iPhone obsessed, while written primarily for the iPhone 4 and 3GS camera, still applies to any iOS device with a camera. Although some tips and tricks for finding a great photo are included, the book’s focus is on apps and procedures to take a good photo and turn it into a great one. It’s all about post-production without a desktop. Use your iOS device to perform advanced manipulation that rivals some of the best desktop programs.

What I really liked about the book is QR codes in every section taking you to the app for purchase as well as online videos and tutorials that go into greater detail if you are interested. No long URLs to type: smart!

As a very novice photographer, some of the language and techniques used were a bit above my level and this book is written for photographers well-versed in concepts such as filters, lens flares and blurs. The audience for this book is experienced photographers wanting to take some of their techniques to iOS devices. This is the book when you’ve mastered Instagram and Hipstamatic and want more, much more.

Overall a great book and the apps and procedures reviewed should definitely improve the quality of my shots.

Pros: QR codes extending the book online, details of how to use the apps to make great photo manipulations
Cons: Requires photography knowledge

Five out of Five Dogcows

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I’m not sure why they call this for Seniors because this seems like the average Dummies book. A good quality guide that covers all the major information you need to know. This book is extremely comprehensive and a novice might find it a bit intimidating. It’s geared more towards a intermediate user that already feels somewhat comfortable with an iPad

The one “senior” aspect of this book is the typeface. It’s BIG. Obviously it’s designed for those that may have trouble seeing. The book is designed for person that may not feel comfortable with technology which includes not just seniors but really anyone.

Having worked with seniors, I think this book presented too much information too quickly and the average novice might get overwhelmed with so much to do and configure on the iPad, and the books goes way beyond the basics.

Overall, for a senior that already feels comfortable with technology and is eager to learn, this book is a good fit. For novices or those afraid of technology, this may be too much.

Pros: Lots of details, big type
Cons: Maybe too much for information presented too quickly
Three out of Five Dogcows

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If you are giving or supporting an iPad for someone who is a baby boomer or older, this is a great book!

This book is specifically designed for senior adults who may not always feel comfortable with technology and face certain physical challenges when eyesight and mobility begin to fail. Unlike “dummy” style books, this book respects their life experience and doesn’t talk down to them.

Each chapter focuses on tasks rather than functions. Instead of presenting Safari, the chapter is entitled “Browsing the Web”. For novices who didn’t grow up with these terms, focusing on what the iPad can do rather than what it is called is vitally important.

The chapters state requirements as far as technology and skills. This way you’ll know if you have exactly what you need to proceed. During the explanation tips and tricks are given about how to use the iPad, but not as many tips on efficiency or shortcuts. Newbies will love that because they may simply not know all the great things the iPad can do and don’t want to get bogged down with a “simpler” way of doing it. They are just trying to learn the basics. In particular I think the color coding of this information was great. Red backgrounds for warning and green for tips makes it an easy read and less intimidating with too much black on white text. The ending of the chapters have a summary and a quiz to reinforce the learning. Outstanding

The one major flaw of this book is the print size. It’s bigger than the average manual but honestly, if your target market is older people with potential eyesight issues, I think the text should be much larger. Also, this is written in the UK and some of the British spellings and terms might throw American readers a bit

Pros: Focuses on tasks rather than technology, easy to understand for novices without talking down to them
Cons: Text should be larger

Four out of Five Dogcows

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With the imminent demise of MobileMe, it’s time more of us move to iCloud and Lion, but with Apple thrusting this upon us, not all of us feel comfortable changing the way we’ve done things with MobileMe for years. Fortunately this book will alleviate your fears and make you a master.

The book, although multiplatform, focuses primarily on the Macintosh usage. Each aspect of iCloud is covered: mail, notes, iMessage, contacts, calendars, reminders, iPhto, iTunes, backups, documents, and search functions.
Each chapter gives an overview with objectives and then clearly organizes the information with tips, screenshots and easy to read diagrams.

The audience for this is beginner and intermediate users, although since the service is so new, we are all pretty much beginners and can learn from this book.

Missing is troubleshooting ideas when things go wrong, but this is a “quickstart” guide and not a comprehensive manual.

iCloud is fairly straightforward and not a huge leap from MobileMe, but it is different and this book explains to both new users to the product and migrating users everything they need to know to be successful

Pros: Covers the transition to iCloud and all the functions it entails
Cons: Can’t bring back the functions we miss in MobileMe!

Five out of Five Dogcows

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The organization of the book is extremely focused. Each chapter covers a different aspect of what a user might need to do with their iPad such as writing, contacts, or presentations. Instead of showing you the basics of the iOS apps included in the iPad, David takes a holistic approach suggesting not just a variety of alternative apps but discussing suggested workflows and how to optimize these workflows for your individual business. No stone is left unturned here: billing/invoicing, databases, project management and more business specific concepts.

The chapters start with the coverage of the primary iOS apps as well complimentary or alternative apps. Each app is given a QRcode making for easy downloading on your iPhone. What a thoughtful and smart idea, but that’s MacSparky–the online identify of David Sparks. Great screen shots and succinct writing make this a quick and easy read and allows you to skip over the concepts you aren’t interested in. Don’t skip. Even if you know contact management or word processing, the tips and tricks to optimize usage are well work the short reads.

The appendix of the book includes industry specific suggestions for law, medicine construction and more.

A seriously awesome book by an industry luminary!

Pros: Organization and content focused on business
Cons: Absolutely none

My biggest concern with this book was that it was too advanced for a novice audience and too basic for an intermediate or advanced reader. For example, a novice doesn’t need to know about DHCP numbering schemes but an intermediate or advanced user doesn’t need to know about how to shutdown the computer.

The organization of the chapters is simply bizarre. The author’s flow is based on setup rather than usage. The starting chapter includes setup and networking and moves to sharing with other users, a clearly more advanced concept, and then swings back to running applications and then organizing files or folders. Waiting until chapter 5 to talk about web surfing really doesn’t make sense to me. Most users want to hook up their computers and immediately surf.

Later on in the book, information about remote connections and printer sharing are included, but given the same amount of space as sending an email or watching a DVD on a Mac. Different concepts require different amount of space to cover, so a new user might easily get overwhelmed they didn’t understand some of the more advanced concepts.

I’d like to say the topics were covered well but they weren’t. The illustrations were extremely busy with as many as 8 flags on one screen requiring a legend and color coding to decipher.

Pros: Comprehensive
Cons: Coverage of topics inconsistent, confusing illustrations, too much information for a novice and not enough for an intermediate user

Two out of Five Dogcows

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OS X Lion is a significant change in the way you interact with your
Mac and for previous Mac users these changes can be a bit
intimidating. This book assumes basic knowledge of Macs and
computers. No hand holding about how to turn it on or how to use the
mouse. You should already be experienced with computing, but not
necessarily a Mac. This should be a “switchers” bible, although it
doesn’t make direct reference to PC to Mac transition, it does tell
you how to do typical tasks such as email, browsing and file
management on he Mac platform.

The book takes the reader through the key aspects of Lion such as the
Finder, iCal, Address Book and the slew of other programs that come
with it such as TextEdit, Preview and iChat and incorporates how new
features such as Gestures, Resume, and Mission Control changes the Mac
experience for the better.

Rounding out the end of the book are chapters about how to use system
wide features such as data detectors and pdf as well as some great
guides to troubleshooting and personalizing your Mac and most
important, Time Machine backups.

Typical of anything Robin Williams is involved in, this book has a
vivid, elegant and simple layout that makes for an enjoyable read.
Too often tech books are either terribly text heavy or have so many
screen shots that you feel like you are reading a comic book. Mac OS X
Lion dances that line between the two quite well. Excellent examples
with detailed textual descriptions.

Pros: Excellent review of OS X Lion, easy read
Cons: Not included with every Mac Sale

Five out of Five Dogcows

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Title: Now that I have a Mac with Lion, what do I do?

This book, despite its title, isn’t as much a book about Lion as it is a book about how to use a Mac with Lion to do certain neat projects. Most Mac users can figure out email and surfing the web, but what about taking your DVD collection and putting in on your Mac?

Before purchasing this book, read through the projects. Even if one of them interests you, the book will be a great value. If you aren’t interested in any of this, then it’s probably worth taking a pass. Projects are as follows

1) Organizing your files
2) Mastering Spotlight searches
3) Printing to save paper
4) Installing applications purchased at the Mac App store
5) Providing Remote Technical Support
6) Remote controlling a Mac in your home
7) Accessing your files remotely from another Mac
8) Using DropBox
9)) Copying DVD content to your Mac
10) Basic photo editing and touch ups
11) Creating a slideshow
12) Using Rapid Weaver for a family website
13) RSS Feeds
14) Configuring TextExpander
15) Full screen mode to avoid distractions
16) Audio Podcasting
17) Setting up Time Machine alongside a cloning solution
18) Using your signature in a PDF

Each of these projects are short–just four of five pages. The book is easy to understand and the projects are fun and relevant. They assume a basic to intermediate knowledge of Lion. No explanations of files or how to click a mouse is included.

Since I knew how to do all of this or the things I didn’t know didn’t interest me, I didn’t find the book that valuable. I learned this stuff the hard way through trial and error. However if someone asked me how to do any of these small projects, you bet I’ll suggest this book.

New Mac users who simply want to feel more comfortable with their Mac and need some ideas of projects will find this book ideal. If I did Macintosh tutoring this would be a great companion manual.

Overall, a fun book for intermediate Mac users with relevant and interesting projects.

Pros: Excellent digest of fun projects to get to know Lion and your Mac better
Cons: Limited scope if you already know how to do these things or if they don’t interest you.

Five out of Five

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The writing style is direct and straightforward and assumes familiarity and comfort with previous versions of MacOS such as Leopard or Snow Leopard. This is not a beginner’s book and lacks the handholding and screen shots you’ll find in a “non-technical” book.

Starting with the installation process, the book walks through the key features the average user needs to know about and ends with a great troubleshooting and short-cut guide. If you aren’t a manual reader, this book is for you. It gives you just enough information to explore the features quickly without being bogged down by long explanations or tutorials. Consider this more of an outline and a getting started than a extensive manual on all things Lion, which is just what some of us need!

Pros: Short, succinct and just what you need to get started
Cons: Requires basic knowledge of MacOS, not for beginners.

Five out of Five Dogcows

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Microsoft Office 2011 Visual Quickstart Guide

The book starts with explaining exactly what is new in each part of the Office Suite and previews what experienced users might want to focus on. The book leaves no stone unturned, covering not just the PowerPoint, Excel, Word and Outlook but includes the esoteric extras such as My Day, Sky Drive and Office Web Apps.

In particular this book handles both beginner and advanced topics. Those users experienced with Office basics can look at the table of contents and quickly jump to the function they are most interested in. Don’t know what Sparklines are in 2011? Quickly jump to a great explanation on the subject. While the book is larger than the typical Visual Quickstart guide, the information was very accessible

As an experienced Office user on both the Mac and PC, I found this an invaluable resource to optimize my investment in this new version. The final chapters were golden as they really tied all the programs together and focused on interoperability between them.

Overall this is a great book for anyone using Microsoft Office 2011!

Pros: Covers all aspects of the suite in detail in a manner beginners will understand and advanced users will be able to master

Cons: None!

5 out of 5 dogcows

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The Step by Step series is a lesson-based training program, but you can easily avoid the actual lessons in order to use the book as a reference guide. In this case the actual training exercises are pretty minimal and could have easily been omitted and still retain the book’s value.

The book is extremely well-laid out with a great table of contents and index. Each chapter introduces the concepts it covers and the key points and then reviews them at the end. For users of an Exchange server, the lessons cover both Exchange-based accounts as well as traditional IMAP/POP email systems. Users new to Microsoft products as well as seasoned Entourage and Outlook for the PC users will still find the book’s lessons accessible and of value. If you already know a concept, the book makes it very easy to skip that section.

Unfortunately since the book was printed, Microsoft made significant changes to the sync functions and now that Apple is retiring MobileMe, these sections will be subject to additional changes. Such is the nature of tech books.

Pros: Easy to understand lessons and comprehensive review of features
Cons: Lessons not terribly substantive

4 out of 5 dogcows

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Microsoft Office 2011 Portable Genius

Each major program of the Office Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook) is given an introduction and then a series of in-depth analyses. At the beginning, the geography of the program screen is introduced along with a survey of major menu items and preferences as well as keyboard shortcuts for these functions. For intermediate and advanced users, these intros can easily be skipped. Ideally these menu and shortcut guides should be in the last chapter of the section because new users might get intimidated with the twenty or so different ways to do a simple task.

The book’s style is highly visual and focused on functions, answering “How do I” questions. Unfortunately there is often no designation between which functions are new to Office 2011 and functions that have been there since the beginning (Outlook excluded since it hasn’t been on the Mac platform for a long time). In particular, Excel’s new Sparklines function wasn’t covered nor were the collaboration aspects of the Skydrive. While these aren’t as important as printing emails or creating formulas, users upgrading from previous versions might have found some coaching useful.

The final chapters of the book briefly cover Microsoft Communicator, Remote Desktop Connection as well as using Microsoft resources to get help with the program.

Experienced users of previous versions of Office for the Mac or PC won’t find much value in this book, but for novice users new to the Microsoft family of products, this book will help them transition nicely.

Pros: Adequate guide to Office 2011
Cons: Lacks coverage and specificity of new features

3 out of 5 Dogcows

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This book looks at the anatomy of your slides and how to make them supplement what you are saying as the presenter rather than being the focus of your presentation. Of course professional designers take years to learn these skills, but after reading this book I have much more confidence I can make a quality presentation without having Al Gore’s design team at my disposal.

Unlike typical tech books, practical examples and checklists are missing from this book. General ideas and viewpoints are presented instead, in short digestable sections, just like the Bento box the author describes – a wide variety of concepts put together in a neat package that gives you energy and nourishment for the day.

After reading this book and looking at my previous presentations, I now understand why I and others fell asleep during them. I saw where I made my mistakes and what to change for the future. I’ll be doing much much less on individual slides and will make the concepts I present “pop” off the screen and have a clear focus.

For those people looking for tips and tricks of PowerPoint and Keynote, move along. This book is about practical advice and overall concepts of using “slideware” to engage your audience and help them understand what you are presenting.

Pros: Excellent overall concepts of how to make better presentations with a holistic focus rather than practical teachings of software functions
Cons: None!

Five out of Five Dogcows.

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In order to stand out on the virtual shelf, Presentation Zen uses Zen philosophy as a teaching method. Personally, I found this distracting and superfluous. Ironic, since one of the book’s key philosophies is to keep your presentation basic with the “less is more” concept. See, I guess I did learn something from the book.

The book was an enjoyable read with a view of an entirely different culture than the one I grew up in and, occasionally, I did learn a few key points about presentations. Because of the narrative nature of this book, extracting advice for giving presentations was difficult to discern. Typically in technical books, the authors teach key points with use of the main text and then put miscellaneous extras on the side. In this book, the technical points were on the side and philosophies, interviews, and cultural icons appeared to be the main focus. Overall, the book dealt with the nuances of presentation rather than a direct guide on how to prevent your audience (and you) from falling asleep when the lights go down and your presentation begins.

I do recommend the book as a starting point in your journey to create better presentations. Instead of giving specific tips and instruction, overall ideas and concepts are presented in this very quick read. In particular, presentations should be about the presenter and not about the slides on the screen. The slides should supplement and amplify what the speaker is saying, rather than the speaker being the spokesperson for the slides on the screen.

Pros: Nice window to Japanese culture and Zen philosophy with application to presentations
Cons: Lack of firm structure and clear instructions on presentations

3 out of 5

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Additionally, this book doesn’t go in depth in any particular area but rather is a survey course in the subject matter. The title “up and running” is quite applicable because the highlights and key features in a particular area are discussed and the author clearly states how a particular function differs or is similar to Windows XP or Windows Vista.

This short book doesn’t include many screenshots, walk-throughs or troubleshooting thereby keeping the content as succinct as possible with such a large topic As a relatively new Windows 7 user and an experienced Windows Vista and XP user, this book was an ideal introduction of what’s new without wasting my time on things the typical Windows user already knows. Not only were the basics of Windows covered but also the functions of the Windows Live Essentials, Windows XP mode, Internet Explorer 8 and file sharing and security.

Newcomers to Windows 7 who already feel comfortable with the intermediate functions of previous versions of Windows are the ideal audience for this book. The books answers the question: “How do I do….” in Windows 7. Those new to computers or Windows won’t find enough explanation from this book and experienced Windows 7 users will miss any tips, tricks or troubleshooting.

Pros: Includes just what you need to, well, get up and running
Cons: Narrow audience of experienced Windows users who are new to Windows 7

Four out of Five Dogcows

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The authors go through some introductory subjects such as cloud syncing and security tips then move on to using Dropbox, iTunes and Documents-to-go to manage productivity for the standard office suite. Then they move on to using multiple applications to planning an entire party – including recipes, shopping list and invitations – via the iPad. Finally, they cover creating flash cards, planning vacations, as well as a variety of audio and video tips and tricks. Most helpful is the last series of chapters that explain how to move DVD content to your iPad.

If you’ve ever said “I have an iPad, now what?” this the book for you. Even though I’m an experienced iPad user, the book had some great ideas and sparked some new ones. Some of the ideas I already knew, but had to learn the hard way. I highly recommend this book for iPad users who wonder what else they can do with their magical and revolutionary devices.

Pros: Outstanding ideas about taking your iPad to the next level
Cons: Absolutely none

Five out of Five Dogcows

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Using iPhone does a great job of covering the key aspects of iPhone usage geared towards beginners to either the iPhone or the iPhone 4 operating system. The items applicable just to the iPhone 4 were clearly marked.

The flow of the book was to present a topic, let the reader practice the topic at hand, and when necessary enhance their learning with online supplements keeping the book relevant and timely.

Rather than being a how-to guide, this book’s focus is all about showing and doing. Intermediate iPhone users will find the book too basic to find it useful and lacking in killer tips and tricks, but beginners will really appreciate the step by step instructions for each aspect of the iPhone and the included apps by Apple.

Overall a great beginner book

Pros: Clear instructions supplemented by online content presented in a work-along manner
Cons: Very basic

4.5 out of 5 dogcows

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Overall, this book talked down to the reader more than any “dummy” or “idiot” series. The cartoons and graphics were extremely distracting and created a busy layout that made it near impossible to find the information you needed.

Moreover, many topics included were either irrelevant to intended audience of extremely basic iPad users or were advanced concepts that would confuse and frustrate new users. An example would be covering such items as rating iTunes store content which is very easy, to a more difficult concept such as usage of javascript.

Every page was a visual explosion of cutesy graphics such that half way through the book I wanted to watch SpongeBob just so I could feel like an adult again.

A child would love this book, an adult should take a pass and either simply purchase a comic book or buy a real guide. This book is an awkward spot between the two.

2 out of 5 dogcows

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The authors go through some introductory subjects such as cloud syncing and security tips then move on to using Dropbox, iTunes and Documents-to-go to manage productivity for the standard office suite. Then they move on to using multiple applications to planning an entire party – including recipes, shopping list and invitations – via the iPad. Finally, they cover creating flash cards, planning vacations, as well as a variety of audio and video tips and tricks. Most helpful is the last series of chapters that explain how to move DVD content to your iPad.

If you’ve ever said “I have an iPad, now what?” this the book for you. Even though I’m an experienced iPad user, the book had some great ideas and sparked some new ones. Some of the ideas I already knew, but had to learn the hard way. I highly recommend this book for iPad users who wonder what else they can do with their magical and revolutionary devices.

Pros: Outstanding ideas about taking your iPad to the next level
Cons: Absolutely none

The book covers the following topics in detail in a logic progression of how a new user would approach the topic, and features chapters on installation, importing and managing photos, working with the Faces and Places feature, slideshows, editing, publishing, and printing photos. As a bonus, the book also contains a great appendix on photography techniques to make anyone a better photographer.

Within each topic, details are covered one page at a time with copious screenshots (hence the Visual part of the title) making for a quick read without too much fluff and superfluous information (the Quickstart part of the title). Engst’s excellent writing style enabled even the more complex topics to be succinctly and deftly handled in just a few paragraphs. Personally I’ve always had problems getting pictures to print correctly on photo paper and after reading the short page on Printing Standard Prints and the Troubleshooting guide, I realised what I was doing wrong and no longer have a stack for recycling each time I want a simple 4×6.

The Troubleshooting chapter in particular is an outstanding guide on figuring out what to do when iPhoto acts quirky. It helps you with those functions that should work, but due to current bugs in iPhoto, don’t. You won’t find this detailed guide anywhere, so serious iPhoto users should buy it for this reason alone!.

Although I consider myself an intermediate iPhoto user, I still found quite a bit of value from this book. I clearly don’t use the full potential of iPhoto, and know more about how to use certain functions to my advantage rather than learning for the sake of learning. Both beginner and intermediate users will find just what they need in this book. Rarely can a book walk that line of not talking down to intermediate users and not talking over the heads of a beginning users. Here is proof you can do both.

Pros: Covers the most useful topics within iPhoto in a quick easy to understand format with great tips and tricks along they way.
Cons: Absolutely none

Five out of Five Dogcows.

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Weighing in at over 3 pounds and close to 900 pages, this book isn’t just the missing manual, but the definitive guide to everything Snow Leopard. If it isn’t in there, you probably don’t need to know it.

Seriously, though, this is a great guide and each time Pogue comes up with a new edition of his Mac OS Missing Manuals, they just keep getting better and better. Similar to previous editions, the author takes you through every aspect of the operating system and the included applications and even some of the iLife apps. Menu commands, their functions, and their relation to real world situations is a hallmark of the Missing Manual series. Screen shots are used where appropriate but not so many that you feel like you are reading a comic book. Of course, sprinkled throughout the book are tips, tricks, and “nostalgic corners” telling us how we got to this 6th generation of Mac OS X.

Unlike previous editions of the book, the author is including more of the intermediate users in his mix. Many more advanced topics aren’t just mentioned, but clearly explained. In particular, the book explains the difference between Applescript and Automator and how to write practical scripts and workflows the average user would benefit from. Other more advanced topics include Windows and Mac file sharing (especially the problems Windows 7 poses), virtual private networking, and top “useful” unix commands.

The book is designed to be a reference guide more than a how to or walkthrough book. The table of contents and index are indispensable tools for zeroing in on exactly the right command and program to get the job done. Every IT department and help desk should have a copy of this book.

Pros: Extensive information geared for both novices and intermediate users
Cons: Requires lifting with the legs, not the back

Five out of Five Dogcows

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For the beginning, readers will find just the information they need to get up and running. Although the book is a thick 350 or so pages, it’s a very quick read and includes a large number of pictures for reference purposes and learning about your iPad without actually having an iPad in front of you.

Instead of focusing on every feature, the book covers those features the average new user would be interested in. The books starts at the beginning: how to turn the iPad off and on. Instead of a list of every feature of every setting in alphabetical order, the presentation is based on how a user first approaches their iPad. First they turn it on, then customize it, then they get on the Internet and go from there. The last chapters focus on more advanced topics such as moving Microsoft Office docs to and from your iPad and suggested apps (although the app suggestions are extremely outdated). In the middle is a focus on practical aspects of iPad use – less about what an app does, and more how to integrate that app into your daily usage.

Overall, this book is great for a beginner to the iOS platform as well as the iPad user who bought one and quite can’t figure out the best way to use it.

Pros: Well-illustrated with clear examples on usage, focuses on the features of the iPad the average user would be interested in a logical order
Cons: Simplistic for iPad users already comfortable with the device

4 out of 5 Dogcows

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She first focuses on the content of your presentation: clarity, relevance, animation and plot. Good presentations start with good content. Fortunately she saves us all from those boring stand up meetings where the presenter simply reads the slides. Slides should serve as a way to move the speech and engage the audience. After creating good content, Robin then reminds us of the basic design principles she taught in her last Non-Designer’s book: contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity. Finally she takes the time to dispel a long litany of misconceptions about how to present. For example, she quickly dismisses the idea that handouts somehow distract your audience – instead it actually keeps them focused on your presentation instead of furiously taking notes. Each of her misconceptions is based on some basic fact of presentations which people took to an extreme.

This is simply a must have book! The checklists at the end are well worth the price of the book in and of themselves

Pros: All the tips and tricks to a great presentation written in an easy to follow and understand guide
Cons: It’s not mandatory reading for anyone who buys a projector. It really should be as countless hours of productivity would be gained in corporate America

Five out of Five Dogcows

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This book relies heavily on brilliant full color examples of the concepts being taught. The reader is easily able to compare what is in the book to what is on their Mac’s screen. “Teacher, did I do it right?” is easily answered by looking inside this book. Additionally, a review quiz is included at the end of each chapter to make sure you understand the current lesson before moving on.

While instructor-lead programs allow the student to ask questions and interact, the Apple Training Series is about the closest thing you can come to an instructor-lead program without having to leave your home, office, or coffee shop. I always love how the Apple Training Series includes a suggested time frame it takes to do the particular chapter so you can plan your schedule accordingly.

Pros: Excellent real world examples and clear instructions and output specifications
Cons: Absolutely none

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here.
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Microsoft Office 2008 is overloaded with tons of useless features which make the program slow, complex, and bloated. “Microsoft Office 2008 Quick Start Guide” matches Office’s complexity. This 500-plus page tome is a comprehensive guide to many of Microsoft Office 2008′s major features.

Unfortunately, this is not a typical “Visual Quickstart Guide.” One would not get a Quickstart, because probably it’s hard to quickly start the digital equivalent of an oil tanker. Beginners to Microsoft Office will find this guide completely overwhelming and would be overwhelmed by all that Microsoft Office 2008 can do.

The author breaks up Office into its core components: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Entourage, and the integration of those applications. Unfortunately he covers almost all the major features which is completely unnecessary for a Quickstart guide. For example, how often do people use the Notebook view in Word or the Newsgroups function in Entourage? Similar to Office itself, adding in all these extras makes it harder for the user, or in this case reader, to find the basic functions of the program they need. This book could have easily been half the size and the reader would have understood most of what they need to know about Office.

The text was easy to understand for those functions the author was describing but there was a distinct lack of the common Visual Quickstart Guide screenshots and visual enhancements. The book was extremely text heavy and dense because of this. For a intermediate user trying to look up how to create a stock chart or brushing up on mail merging, this is a good manual. Beginning users will be overwhelmed with the comprehensiveness of it all.

Pros: Covers a vast majority of functions in the Microsoft Office 2008 Suite.
Cons: A vast majority of functions in the Microsoft Office 2008 Suite are unnecessary and overwhelming, just like this book

3 out of 5 Dogcows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here.
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Typically, Peachpit’s Visual Quickstart Guide jumps you into a program giving you the “quickstart” to get working and obtain a basic understanding of the program. This book didn’t follow that theme as closely as others in the series, but it’s still an excellent guide to iMovie 09. If you buy only one book on iMovie, I firmly believe this should be the one. It’s short, straightforward and highly accessible to someone who has never used a video camera before.

The book starts off with the essentials of movie making on your Mac, discussing important topics such as AV equipment, movie planning, lighting and composition. These preliminary chapters are an absolute gem. While I’ve worked with iMovie before, I never really understood the essentials of lighting, focus, and composition. A great iMovie starts out with the fundamentals and the first five chapters of the book are devoted to just this.

Next, the book gives you a “Make a Movie in a Hurry” overview of iMovie so you can quickly complete a task and have some initial success. Then, the author goes in detail about iMovie in a logical progression as to how the typical project would go: importing, editing, and exporting. Throughout the chapters the author includes tips and tricks not just about the usage of iMovie, but why a user should care about certain functions. Knowing all the features of iMovie doesn’t really help unless you know how to use them in your projects to enhance your work. After reading this book, I understood much more of the power of iMovie and how to use the features of iMovie to make better movies.

Ironically, what’s missing from the book is a guide to iDVD. One small chapter is devoted to iDVD and then the author directs you to his website for another 60 or so pages of iDVD info: http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/9780321601322/supplements/iDVD_Addendum.pdf That’s my major con of the book: the title is extremely misleading. This is NOT a book about iDVD, it’s strictly about iMovie. I can’t imagine why the book was titled and distributed the way it was.

Pros: Easy to understand, accessible
Cons: No iDVD printed materials in book

Four out of Five dogcows

Four out of Five DogCows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here.
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The book is extremely iPhoto heavy and Heid covers the ins and outs of iPhoto over around 150 pages, more than any other aspect of the suite. iMovie and Garage Band each get about 80 pages of coverage. Least featured is iWeb and iDVD, each given only about 30 pages. For most casual users’ interest that’s about right. Each two-page spread of the book covers a different aspect of the program and Heid includes detailed screen shots to enable the reader to study when they are not at the computer. The table of contents allows you to hone in on the exact feature or project you are doing. In particular, I like how the book compared and contrasted the different overlapping features of iLife. For example, what is the best way to do an iPhoto slide show? iPhoto, iDVD, or iMovie–it gets confusing. Additionally, Heid goes beyond the functions of the apps and considers real-world problems and questions an iLife user might have, such as scanning old photos into iPhoto, or the best way to record sound in Garage Band.

The target audience of this book should be the intermediate user of the Mac who has a basic understanding of what each iLife program does and why they might use it. This is for the reader who wants to dive deep into a project and doesn’t want the unnecessary fluff of a beginner’s manual, nor does the reader want to be distracted by the features most people never use. This book covers the classic 20% that you’ll use 80% of the time.

Pros: Covers the key features of the iLife ’09 suite while avoiding the time wasting feature inventory
Cons: Assumes some basic knowledge of the suite, skimpy coverage of iWeb and iDVD

Five out of Five dogcows

This book is an excellent resource for someone wanting a hands-on learning tutorial about every aspect of the iLife Suite:  iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb, and iDVD.  This is not a “how-to” reference manual — you won’t find feature listings or troubleshooting tips.  Its exclusive goal is training sessions with pre-developed material to be done a classroom or self-teaching format.  For someone who has never been exposed to these programs, it’s a great resource with which to start from scratch. 

Each module has lesson files that are installed on your computer and gives you a time estimate of how long the project will take.  According to the book’s estimates, it will take you about 13 hours to complete; however for me the modules went much quicker.  Fortunately, since the materials are already created for you on the included DVD, you don’t have to actually shoot video or load pictures to understand the lessons.  You’ll be able to follow exactly line-by-line along with the book and compare actual results.  The book is well laid out with real screen shots for every outcome, so don’t be intimidated by its size.  At the end of each module is a quiz to test your knowledge of the subject.  Obviously this makes an excellent text book for instructor or group study.

Personally, I was new to iLife ’09 but have used previous versions.  The book skipped over computing basics and focused primarily on new iLife features such as Face Recognition in iPhoto. The modules were extremely well paced and I had an excellent grasp of the subject material at the end. My only major complaint is that between iLife programs, the authors did not stay consistent and the lessons at times were confusing, as not all the authors had the same skill level or approach to teaching.  Nonetheless, the book was outstanding as is typical of the Apple Training Series.

Pros:  Training modules for the key features of the iLife Series along with pre-developed material
Cons:  Inconsistent style of lessons between modules.

Five out of Five Dog Cows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

With well over 56,000 apps of this writing, the iTunes app store can be intimidating.  There are just so many apps out there one doesn’t really know where to begin.  Staring with the top 10 or top 25 is a great place to look, but too often the gems are buried in the middle and nearly impossible to find in that stack of 56,000 apps.  Even if you just stick to the top apps, you don’t get manuals or easy instructions with them, making purchasing apps that much more of a frustrating experience. 

“Best iPhone Apps” fixes both problems.  Author Clark has a good mix of popular apps such as Yelp and Facebook, but also includes some off-the-wall ones such as What The Font which helps you identify a particular font using your camera.  Each app receives one dedicated page of explanation and a screen shot – which is a heck of a lot more than iTunes or many developers provide.  Additionally, there have been some more expensive popular apps I’ve been afraid to purchase because there are no demos in the App store (a fatal flaw in my opinion).  An example of this is Jaadu VNC.  This $24.99 app sounds great, but does it work?  I bought it and couldn’t quite figure it out until I read this book.

Unfortunately, while the book is iPhone 3.0 aware, it was published before iPhone 3.0 software and the iPhone 3GS came out, so some of the information is slightly dated.  Nonetheless, the apps that are great now will continue to be great.  This book is perfect for a non-technical new iPhone or iPod Touch user who isn’t quite sure where to begin.  A vast majority of the apps listed in the book are free or low-cost so there is little risk in trying and exploring these apps.

Overall this book is perfect for a new iPhone user or a more experienced user who wants to take the time to learn about some new apps

Pros:  Covers a wide variety of apps in depth
Cons:  Quickly will become outdated

Five out of Five Dogcows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

Whether you are logging on to Facebook for the first time, or are a pro, “Facebook Me!” will teach you some valuable tips and tricks on how to maximize your usage. The author takes the novice user through ever aspect of Facebook including a heavy emphasis on privacy and security. In particular, Awl’s book will survive most Facebook interface changes because he focuses on the core values of why you are on Facebook and what you hope to accomplish. He handles such tricky issues as friending your boss and coworkers as well as to how to deal with friends who send you invites to every application known to man.

Awl gives great advice to new users on how to follow proper social mores on Facebook as well as how to prevent getting viruses on it. Experienced users will benefit from Awl’s suggestions on topics such as how often and what to say in status updates and most important, how to check Facebook from work. Business owners in particular will benefit from this book’s excellent explanation of pages, groups, and advertising on Facebook.

The book is extremely well organized so more experienced users can focus on the subject that interest them the most. A detailed table of contents helps readers hone in on their particular topics of interest and excellent use of color screen shots helps everyone visualize his descriptions. Although Facebook will surely redesign it’s interface and the pictures will then look different, the concepts of keeping up with friends and acquaintances are at the core of Facebook. Awl’s book is about how to use Facebook effectively, not merely a “how to” guide.

Pros: Well organized, detailed, perfect for novices and experienced users
Cons: Still doesn’t tell me whether I should friend my Mom or not

Five out of Five Dogcows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

Primarly, Toperoek takes you through key functions of the UI such as the Finder, Dock, System Preferences, and the Leopard apps that had signficant changes. He briefly describes each function in Leopard and all the options related to it. This book helps you answer the question of “How do I” and “What does this function do?” Short, sweet and to the point. It’s includes the 20% of the Leopard functions you’ll use 80% of the time If you ever wanted to know the keyboard shortcut to any command in Leopard, it’s in this book. The index is almost as powerful as Apple’s Spotlight function and quickly allows you to hone on the questions you need answered.

A short review for a short 200 page half-sized book, but like the magna carta it is short yet very valuable!

Pros: Excellent overview of key Leopard functions geared towards intermediate and advanced users
Cons: No tutorials or pictures, but the technical Illuminati don’t need such things.

5 out of 5 dogcows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

Reviewed for the Lawrence Apple Users Group by Mike Silverman

The iPhone is an amazing portable computer. It features capabilities that twenty years ago would have been something out of the pages of science fiction. Instant communications access with anyone in the world, the ability to seamlessly access the corpus of human knowledge that is the Internet, and of course, an ability to be entertained by music, video and games limited only by your imagination.

Almost.

The iPhone, as shipped by Apple, is a wonderful device for 95% of its users. But Apple locks iPhone users into a gilded cage. The cage is sumptuously decorated, but it is still a jail cell. You are limited to using your iPhone in ways Apple approves of. “The man” (or Steve Jobs) decides what applications you can run and what capabilities your phone has. Like a bridled horse, the iPhone is docile, but unleashed, it could do so much more!

To really set the iPhone free, you need to “hack” it. Once you do this, your phone becomes the powerful computer it is meant to be, and you can run much more diverse software, giving your phone new abilities, like being able to record videos, customize the user interface, emulate popular video game consoles, and send and receive multimedia messages. You can even give your phone the ability to act as a wi-fi “access point” to the internet for your laptop, and unlock the phone to use on other carriers.

“iPhone Hacks” by David Jurick and Adam and Damien Stolarz is your guide into this brave new world. The authors act as friendly guide into the world of iPhone customization. This book is not meant for beginners; the authors assume both some technical computer knowledge and a curious nature. Some of the software-based “hacks” can be done by any experienced user, but other hacks require programming and even hardware “breadboard” skills, such as handiness with a soldering iron.

The authors first explains some of the basics of the iPhone operating system, including its history, the phone’s boot process, and how the file system is put together, which is an excellent overview, before they head into the basics of “jailbreaking,” which is the process where you use some simple software tools to open your phone’s operating system up to customization.

I should note that many of the hacks in this book require the jailbreaking process, which, contrary to its name, is neither illegal nor very difficult. There are several hacks which do not require jailbreaking, however, these are more in the vein of “power user tips” rather then true hacks. It is worth noting that Apple will not provide warranty services to jailbroken phones – luckily, if anything goes wrong, it is very easy to “restore” your phone to pristine condition before seeking warranty service.

The actual hacks are divided into various sections by theme. The first two thirds of the book is all software-focused, and as such accessible to those without programming or hardware hacking skills. For example, there are sections on using the phone as a multimedia devices, sections on enhancing the camera and video recording functions, as well as sections on topics such as SMS messaging, gaming, and user interface customization. Any of these sections can be accessed in an ad-hoc manner; there is no need to go in order after the initial chapter on the jailbreak process itself. Simple pick the topic you are interested in and dive in. It is easy to browse the book to get an idea of what the iPhone can do, and all of the chapters are very clearly explained, with excellent use of screenshots and supplementary information to guide you in the process.

The final third of the book covers both application programming, and actual hardware hacking, including how to disassemble and reassemble your phone. Many of the hacks in this section are very entertaining to read about (and fairly useless in a practical sense), especially since it would take someone way braver then me to actually crack open my phone’s case! The programming section is a useful introduction to both the official Apple-provided way to program for the iPhone as well as the unofficial ways to get access to private APIs and methods which can be used to program applications that could never make it into the App Store.

More controversially, “iPhone Hacks” also describes the process to “unlock” your iPhone (this is different then “jailbreaking”) so you can use it on a carrier other then AT&T. This information is presented fairly and accurately, with both the risks and rewards clearly outlined for those users who may need to use an iPhone on another carrier. The book also describes how to activate tethering, where you can use your iPhone as an internet access point for your laptop. This may violate your contract with your carrier, but the book doesn’t moralize here; it simply describes the “hack” and leaves the decision as to how to use the information up to you, the reader, which is as it should be.

Overall, this is an amazing book, clearly and thoroughly describing the dozens of ways you can truly make your iPhone your own. It manages to cover challenging information fairly and accurately in a manner that will appeal to any adventurous, curious and technically-minded reader. Even if you never plan to do anything other then the tamest “hacks” to your iPhone, browsing this book will teach you a lot about your phone as a computer, and leave you stimulated and fascinated.

Rating: 5 out of 5 DogCows
Plusses: A through and interesting book on how to expand the iPhone’s universe
Minuses: None

As an avid reader of Entrepreneur magazine, I had very high hopes for this book.  More and more businesses are switching from Mac to PC and need a guide focused on how to get typical business functions done on the Mac.  The book completely skips the iLife suite and takes the reader from the decision to buy a Mac over to the key tools a business owner needs in order to run a business on their Mac.  Unfortunately, the book is incomplete, inconsistent and needs to check its facts.

The first few chapters of the book helps the reader decide which Mac to buy and how to set it up, then takes the reader through the built-in contact management functions and then onto the Microsoft Office suite and,finally, backups.  This is not a how-to guide but rather an overview of the considerations to make when switching to the Mac and whether your business will be able to make that switch.  By the time you have actually made the switch, the book will be of little value to you.  Business owners on the fence about switching to the Mac will find comfort that it can be done and there are tools out there to help them do the job.

The author focuses too much on his personal preferences and has a recommended suite of hardware and software to buy, giving the reader few options if they wish to deviate from the path.  For example, he devotes 60 pages to Microsoft Office but barely mentions iWork or Open Office which are both extremely viable alternatives for the average company switching to the Mac.  Similarly, the penultimate chapter of the book mentions that every business should own the full $299 version of Adobe Acrobat when much of its functionality is already built into Leopard. The other programs he mentions are extremely expensive and often unnecessary for even advanced business owners.  Why does he recommend Photoshop CS3 to a business user?  This chapter could convince a business that it is too expensive to switch to the Mac.

The final chapter of the book is all about backups and Rich does an excellent job of explaining the various backup options the average business owner should consider.  He goes through not only the Apple options, but third party hardware and software as well.   Alongside with backups, Rich then covers (in the Appendix) something every Mac user should have: a full record keeping worksheet of all the important information about your Mac and the hardware and software that goes along with it. 

Unfortunately, Rich is just plain wrong on some of his facts.  Each chapter had a few minor facts wrong that would not impact the average business owner, but still reduces Rich’s credibility as an expert and an author.  The explanation of how to install software assumes that the software will begin installing as soon as you put in the CD, when in reality most programs that come on optical media require you to double click something to begin the install process.  Rich also explains grey-market hacked Apple clones, which should never be used in a business.  Rich even admits they haven’t been tested nor are they probably legal, so I’m not sure why a business book would mention them.    Entrepreneur Press is not used to editing technical books and it shows. 

Pros:  Cuts right to the chase regarding those aspects of the Mac most interesting to business owners
Cons:  Extremely biased and doesn’t empower the reader to make their own choices

2 out of 5 dogcows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

I fondly remember the Seinfeld episode in which Kramer was developing a coffee table book…about coffee tables, so when I read about an iPhone book on the iPhone, I simply had to review it. Not that there is anything wrong with that, no of course not!

As an application, “iPhone the Missing Manual” was difficult to navigate at first. Instead of scrolling up and down to move from page to page, you swipe from left to right in order to move to the next page, much like turning a page of a book. Once I understood this design element, navigating was fine. Ideally, the program should have had a initial welcome screen explaining how to move around within the program. The text of the book was extremely clear to read and quickly rendered when turning pages. Other text programs I’ve used in the past had annoying delays going from page to page. However, the initial opening of the app the very first time I launched it had an abnormal delay of up to a minute, and I thought the app was hung.

While reading the book, I was able to quickly leave the program, check a function, and reenter without crashing. In addition, the URLs listed in the book were live and could be double clicked and opened in Safari. The table of contents was live and clicking on an entry took you to that portion in the book. The only major function lacking from a true print book was an index. The book also didn’t tell you when it was at the end, which was annoying. The applications come with limited preferences to allow you to modify the colors and fonts of the book. The biggest problem with the book as an iPhone app was that it was inexplicably missing a search function.

David Pogue’s writings in the entire Missing Manual series are always easy to understand and comprehensive in analysis. I reviewed the earlier edition of iPhone Missing Manual and Pogue did an excellent job of covering the new functions of the 3G iPhone as well as Mobile Me and the App store. Peppered throughout the book are handy tips that even advanced iPhone users may not know. Pogue adds quite a bit of information on how to use your iPhone in a corporate environment and connect to corporate resources as well as help you to convince your IT department to let you get an iPhone. Also expanded was the syncing and general troubleshooting section, though trying to troubleshoot your iPhone via an iPhone app might prove difficult.

Pros: Unique product for learning how to use your iPhone anytime anywhere
Cons: Slow and confusing upon first use, no search function

Four out of Five DogCows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

Similar to the original version, each iPhone concept is devoted one entire page, no matter how complex or simple the subject. Turning on vibrate mode on your iPhone is given the same space as iTunes library syncing as setting up email accounts. If the superfluous white space and screen shots were taken out, the book would probably be about 1/4 it’s current size. The target user for this book is someone who probably wouldn’t normally buy a computer book. With the pictures and white space it’s a quick and easy read and allows the reader to pick up the book without having to remember where they left off. The reader will have a basic understanding of the critical aspects of the iPhone in a very short period of time.

Overall, the book is easy to read, but would only be helpful to the absolute beginner new iPhone or iTouch users. Again, this review is short because the book is so short!

Pros: Quick to read and easy to understand
Cons: Not enough helpful information and explanations

The book assumes you have iLife ’08 and Leopard installed, and while focusing on iLife, it still covers such Leopard applications as iCal, Mail, Address Book, Safari, iChat and Time Machine. I would have suggested calling this an iLife book, but with the addition of some of the more practical applications that don’t fit into the iLife series, that wouldn’t make much sense either.

Overall the book is a competent overview of iLife and other Leopard applications. The book was lacking in some of Robin Williams’ trademark design. In fact, this book read like most other books on computers. The writing was a bit dense and lacking in full color photos and white space that increases readability. Dare I saw the book was a bit boring? The writing in individual chapters consisted mostly of features, menu commands and preferences and was lacking in practical applications or exercises.

After reading this book, don’t expect to become an expert in any of these subjects, but if you feel you want to “dabble” a bit more and don’t want to buy a whole book on iPhoto or iDVD, this may be a good book for you. This might be a good “in-between” book to help a reader determine if they want to explore iLife further. I would recommend this book to a Mac beginner who understands the basics of their new Mac, but wonders what all those programs that came with the computer can do.

Pros: Broad coverage of programs that come with new Macs
Cons: Lacks readability and practical application

2 out of 5 dogcows
This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

With OS X, killer tips simply aren’t as necessary.  I’ve read most of this series in relation to the operating system.  Each iteration of the MacOS makes usage easier and more straightforward and thus tips aren’t as important.  The tips in this version are less killer than they were in Tiger and much less than Panther.  Even though all the cats of OS X are dangerous in the wild, they are becoming easier to understand and domesticate in each successive version. My review of Leopard Tips is harsher than Tiger Tips because there is simply less to cover and there is much more filler in this book that is inappropriate.  The “sexy side” of Leopard weren’t really tips, but more observations and the “cheap trick” section was fifteen pages of practical jokes you can play on people running Leopard  Excuse me?  Tips on how to create fake dialogs to scare users and how to corrupt their video so they buy a new monitor is more like a little knowledge being dangerous.  Such “tips” ensures no IT department will want their users to keep this book at their desk.

Save for the “cheap tricks”, a vast majority of the tips covered are so obvious even to the non-technical end user, that I’m surprised they authors weren’t too embarrassed to include them.  Do most users really need to be told that you can hide the dock?  Also, this is either a pro or a con, but the last few chapters cover each iLife component.   Personally, I don’t use iDVD, iMovie, or GarageBand so maybe those tips are worth the price of admission.  When you do the math, the actual Leopard tips are about 80% of the book; much less than previous versions.

As they state in the intro , this book is not really for beginners.  If it isn’t for beginners, why do they include such basic tips as having iChat’s status be your current song?  Yawn.  However, even a broken clock is right twice a day, and there were a few cool tips in the book, in particular located in the Spotlight section.  I learned a few cool shortcuts to writing searches, which might save me some time.  I also found out how to make printers auto-quit after launching a print job.  You click on their icon in the dock and choose auto quit.  Oh no, now you may have no reason to buy the book.  Of course, if it really annoyed me, I would have Googled and quickly found the tip.

While the book is accurate, it is generally too advanced for a beginner and too basic for an intermediate user.   The book might be good for a new Leopard user, and possibly for a seasoned Mac user that simply wants to know some cool things in Leopard and doesn’t want to try to self explore.  However, that’s a stretch.  I really can’t find too many people who would get value from the book and the “cheap tricks” chapter, well that cheapens the book’s value to negative numbers.

Pros:  Has a few good tips
Cons:  Not enough tips for most people to justify the purchase.  “Cheap tricks” are inappropriate.

1 out of 5 DogCows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

I remember my first CompuServe experience back in the early 80s. We were living in Ohio and my uncle worked in Columbus for some computer company. He had his own computer, which was absolutely amazing to me. I was in middle school at the time and remember being allowed to use the TRS-80 in the administrative offices. The computers were cool and I was hooked. I could chat with girls who didn’t take one look at me and walk away.

“On the Way to the Web” brought back a lot of memories about the early days of the Internet and on-line services. I’m not sure people who weren’t involved in on-line computing during the 80s and 90s would have that same nostalgic smile. If hearing the words eWorld or AppleLink doesn’t ring any bells then you probably wouldn’t enjoy this book. Banks assumes you know these services and their place in online history, and more importantly, how their development was parallel to the development of the greater Internet. Having lived through this dramatic time in history I still found myself confused on the relationship between these services and the Internet.

The first few chapters are amazing, and effectively captured the headiness of those early days during the 1970s when TCP/IP was not preordained to be the preferred way of computers talking to each other. After commercial online services entered the scene, Banks focuses primarily on those services and their lineage. While online services were clearly important to get us where we are today, he tells the history in a dry and matter-of-fact manner without explaining what else was going on at the time. The level of detail he went into about how these services was over the top. The book is hard to follow because the author tells too many stories at once. I constantly had to refer to the appendix to review the timeline. I expected more about the people involved, rather than the competing companies and their online strategies.

Overall the book was an enjoyable trip down memory lane, but fails to explain how we got from the origins of the Internet to where we are today.

Pros: Nice historical overview of the Internet
Cons: Hard to follow

Two out of Five dogcows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

If you are an experienced Mac user, you probably start wondering about the way things are. Why did Apple do something this way? Why can’t iTunes play AVI files? What does this ‘Automator’ thing do? In the past, there have not been any decent books for experienced Mac tinkerers; a large gap existed between “Macs for Dummies” one one end and professional programming guides on the other. Luckily, “The Big Book of Apple Hacks” by author Chris Seibold has stepped in to fill this gap very nicely.

Overall, this is an interesting book, with a wide variety of hacks, ranging from relatively simple and harmless (customizing icons) to intermediate (changing the default Safari error page) to downright complex hardware hacks that may require some handiness with a soldering iron (as well as steady nerves). Some of the hacks aren’t really hacks at all, but rather short tutorials on interesting topics, such as how to use BitTorrent or how to simulate a static IP address with a dynamic IP service.

The book is laid out by general topic, rather then difficulty, with topics for Safari, the iPhone, AppleTV, iPods, and so forth. Each topic has a half dozen or more hacks, and the book overall has dozens of hacks. It is a very detailed and long book, and is an excellent value given the enormous breadth of data contained therein.

I made direct use of the book by following the hack to install a web browser on my Apple TV. Unfortunately, the book stumbled a bit here. This involved essentially making a special bootable USB flash drive and booting the AppleTV from this device, called a patchstick. The instructions in the book were a lot longer and more confusing then they had to be, and the first attempt, following the book’s instructions to the latter failed. I then followed the instructions contained in the actual patchstick download itself (not provided by the book) and it worked fine; however, it left my AppleTV with a working web browser — and an extraneous menu item for something called Jamen — an unpleasant surprise not mentioned in the book.

I do not want to ‘ding’ this book too much for my poor experience with their AppleTV hack, as by its nature this kind of thing will not work perfectly every time. You have to be willing to experiment to really enjoy the book, and the other hacks I tried worked flawlessly. Even for the hacks I didn’t need or want to try were enjoyable to read about; if nothing else the book will give you ideas and inspiration for your own computer use.

Note that this book is not for beginning or even intermediate Mac users. While some of the hacks are not difficult, they all have the potential to screw up your system, and while an intermediate user is probably OK, especially with a few of the topic-based tutorials, this book is really meant for an experienced user who is not afraid to get his or her hands dirty…and who always has an up-to-date backup of their system available for the inevitable screw-ups! It is also worth noting that the world of computers changes quickly, and portions of the book have already become out of date with new MacOS and hardware releases. So, check the book’s web site and as always, backup before playing!

Summary: A good overall guide filled with interesting ways to expand and enhance your Apple equipment for experienced users.

Plusses: Good mixture of easy and difficult ‘hacks’, very engaging writing style, lots of very useful ideas

Minuses: Some hacks were incompletely documented, quickly out of date.

Rating 3.5 out of 5 Dogcows

My review of Leopard: The Missing Manual won’t be nearly as complete as David Pogue’s typical brilliance. How can someone write about the Mona Lisa? You must actually experience it to fully understand it. (Ohh…now I just made my trip to France tax-deductible). As always, Pogue’s Missing Manuals contain the nitty-gritty of every available function and possible combination. I compared the excellent Tiger edition with the Leopard edition side by side to see what changed.

The 300 extra functions in Leopard only added about 50 pages to the book, which is larger than a phone book and more complete! The Leopard edition had less handholding for Windows users, which is ironic because Boot Camp attracts more Windows users. Cut from the Tiger version of this book were among other things .Mac and iSync integration as well as some terminal tips and tricks.

Missing Manuals are well known for covering each and every function of the subject they cover and of course this version does not disappoint. Do you want to know the in-and-outs of Bluetooth on your Mac? No Problem. Screen Sharing? It’s got it. Every single function of Leopard is covered. The book is designed as a reference guide, not a tutorial

This is not the book for basic user who just wants to send emails and surf. There will be too much information and the almost 900 pages will be intimidating. This is for the person that wants to eek every last ounce of performance and function from the computer. They squeeze the toothpaste to the very bottom and use double coupons for items on sale. Novices may also be turned off by no coverage of iLife.

Pros: It’s all there. Every function, every System Preference. You name it, it’s got it along with Pogue’s style of easy to understand explanations

Cons: Consult a doctor before lifting this book, it’s heavy. Might scare off novices.

Five out of Five DogCows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

The fact that O’Reilly and Pogue Press wrote a whole book on Facebook should be a testament to Facebook’s phenomenal growth. Way back in the dark ages of this social networking era, 2004, only college students were allowed to join. Then at the end of 2006 Facebook was made available to everyone. Now Mom and Dad could see where their college money was going and then students have to explain what “hooking up” was. In May of 2007, Facebook expanded again and allowed “applications” that included everything from vampire attacks on your friends, to playing Scrabble, and finding out how much your friends are alike.

In the Web 2.0 (are we up to 3.0 yet?), a website can have the complexity and functions of a off-the-shelf shrink-wrapped software application. Facebook is a clear example of this phenomenon. There are help screens in Facebook, but there is no manual. In fact, one false move on facebook and all of a sudden people get the wrong impression about you that can last a lifetime. Vander Veer takes the gentle reader through all aspects of signing up on Facebook, connecting with users and “installing” applications. Personally when I signed up with Facebook I made a few of these embarrassing mistakes. I added a few professional clients that might not have synced up properly with my personal life. Oops.

This isn’t a typical missing manual book. Missing Manuals tend to cover each and every function of a program. This book follows more of a tutorial format walking the reader through the setup of a Facebook account and it’s functions. Because Facebook is a website, it can change daily (and does) so full coverage is near impossible. Since this book was published, significant changes were made to the privacy and advertising functions of Facebook. The book is about half the size of the average Missing Manual.<

This book is ideal for the newcomer to Facebook who wants to find out what it’s all about and play a few games of Scrabulous with their colleagues (or grandkids). The book assumes no prior knowledge of Facebook–only that you have an interest in joining. If you are already are on Facebook, you won’t find many tips or tricks. The author did hint at some of the social complexities of Facebook: whom to friend, which groups to join, who should have access to your profile. I thought about those issues after reading the book, but once you are on Facebook, you figure out those things the hard way.

Pros: Perfect book for someone about to join Facebook. Excellent tutorial

Cons: Doesn’t cover many of the Facebook functions, a bit dated.

Three out of Five Dogcows

Getting StartED with Mac OS X Leopard

Apress and the freindsofed division is a fairly new player to the Mac book industry, having focused in the past on heavier topics for programmers and hard core web designers. They are a welcome addition to the Mac Family.

Justin Williams wrote a very first-person account of his adventures with OS X Leopard. This should not be considered a beginners book, especially given the family this book is in. The book is designed for Tiger or other OS X users wanting to know what is new in Leopard. The book is a great effort, but at points I got annoyed that he was stating the obvious things a OS X user knows. Williams writing however was spot-on: easy to understand with plenty of screen shots and detailed examples. He also includes the basics of iLife ’08, which is a bonus, though makes the title a bit misleading and leaves the reader with the assumption Leopard includes iLife ’08. Unless you upgraded to iLife ’08 and Leopard, 30% of the book isn’t applicable to you. Even with the iLife ’08 the book is refreshingly short and can’t be used a child’s booster seat like so many technical books can be.

Though I’m an experienced Leopard user, I even learned a few tricks from this book, based on Williams personal experience with the operating system. This would be a good book to give a experienced Mac user that wants to know “what’s new” in Leopard. It was quick, straightforward and to the point: a good book for people who don’t like to read manuals.

Pros: Excellent tips, easy to understand for a experienced OS X user new to Leopard
Cons: Covers iLife ’08 which adds unnecessarily to the book, covers thins many in the target audience would consider obvious

Three out of Five DogCows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

You know that one episode of Family Guy where Peter makes some seemingly random reference to something that connects him to Generation X’ers and then the sketch goes on for too long. You don’t quite get the reference, it’s bearing to the story, or why Fox didn’t let sleeping dogs lie. Oh yeah, that’s pretty much every episode.

However, this reference to pop culture does actually have some bearing on my review of “The iPhone Book”. This was a series of disjointed short “tips” about the iPhone that included way too many pop culture references that made you scratch your head and want to put on Futurama instead. The book was cowritten by Scott Kelby and Terry White and their styles mixed like oil and doorknobs. In the intro the authors warn the book is “quirky.”, and if you want “quirky” buy this book. If you want a great book on how to use your iPhone, put this book back on the shelf.

Writing a cohesive and comprehensive review of a book that is neither is actually quite difficult! Every topic is was exactly half a page. On the top is a picture of the iPhone or other item and the bottom has a paragraph or two of verbage. Flipping the “silent mode” switch is given about the same attention as troubleshooting the connection to a wireless network? Huh? The saving grace of their book is the admission that they stole some tips from David Pogue in spite of the fact that he writes for a competitor to Peachpit. Why accept a substitute when the Pogue’s book is a few clicks or steps away. You could drive a semi through the gaps in coverage. Complex topics are left to the reader to figure out for themselves and Windows users are completely left in the dust: there are no screen shots or tips for Windows users. Discrimination!

The book had both a poor table of contents, but at least a decent index. While I was able to find the topics a majority of people care about, the coverage was so weak in some areas that I would classify it as one step above useless. Does an entire page need to be devoted to clicking the Safari button to open the browser and only a page to setting up your email?

Unless this is the only book on the shelf regarding iPhones and your helping a freind on a gameshow, skip this book and go to the source they acknowledge as the true master: David Pogue

Pros: They are probably pros at technology, just not writing books together
Cons: The reader is conned out of the $25 they spent for the book. Book is difficult to follow and sorely lacking on explanations

1 out of Five DogCows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

The “Missing Manual”, in case you didn’t already know, is the gold standard of technical publications. Heck, it’s the platinum standard at this point. Any book that has the “Missing Manual” in the title is sure to be a must have. I’ve never been disappointed and “iPhone: The Missing Manual” carries the torch for the series yet again. Some books are only edited by David Pogue, but this one was written exclusively by hi, most likely because the iPhone was a hard find for anyone.

While Pogue expertly covered all the features of the iPhone, he also helped readers work around some of the limitations such as the lack of a word processor or a instant messaging program. I learned quite a few tips even for my mere mortal Treo 650. He helps you save money on text messaging, much to the chagrin of AT&T’s accountants. I had very high hopes for the book, and Pogue exceeded every one.

Ideally, the iPhone should be straightforward and obvious for most people, but occasionally you aren’t quite sure about a feature or how to combine features together to do what you want. For example, how does one avoid SPAM on the iPhone…yuck. This is more than the typical Missing Manual in my opinion. This includes those handy tips and tricks most companies write a separate book on. The list of websites that will simulate desktop apps is worth the price of admission alone.

As always, the Mac and PC platforms are covered equally and with respect. He explains how to sync contacts on a PC and a Mac. Most important, Pogue covers all the troubleshooting steps you need to know when your iPhone stops doing what it wants. Because the iPhone is so new, there aren’t many guides to fixing problems and I’ve had to google way too much in order to fix problems. Now I’ve got all I need in one guide.

No features of the iPhone is left undiscussed! Even experts with the iPhone (can you say you are an expert when it’s been out less than a year?), will find something in this Missing Manual. I think that anyone who has a smart phone will get ideas from this guide. If you can’t have an iPhone, get the next best thing.

Of course, if the manual were hard to understand or disorganized it wouldn’t do anyone much assistance. Fortunately, Pogue’s easy to understand writing style explains things in such a way novices can understand without talking down to them or boring expert users. The index and table of contents are very easy to use to hone in the particular features you are interested in. Extensive use of full color photos helps make sure you can follow along with the book.

Pros: Amazing guide to the iPhone. I suspect Steve Jobs secretly keeps a copy on his desk.
Cons: Besides the fact it doesn’t come with an iPhone, absolutely no cons.

Five out of Five Dogcows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

I have a traditional love/hate relationship with Dummies books. When I am truly a dummy in the subject, I like their broad overviews. “Switching to the Mac for Dummies” is a new title for the Dummies series and is the first Dummies book by author XXXXX Renhold. Generally Dummies books are designed to give you the information you need in a lighthearted way so that the reader doesn’t feel intimidated or overwhelmed.

I’m not sure what mark Reinhold was shooting for but he clearly missed it. The book is overwhelming yet inadequate and in some places just wrong! As an example, Reinhold said you can’t run Appleworks on newer Macs. That is simply untrue. But why would someone switching to the Mac ever care about older version of Appleworks? Based on the contents of the book, it was more akin to “New Macs for Dummies”. Reinhold covered PC to Mac issues as well as Mac to Mac issues. While that’s nice, why would a PC user need that info? It creates an information overflow that makes the book harder to read and confusing for new Mac users.

While I realized Reinhold did not intend the book to be funny, I had to laugh at some of the topics he covered. Few users switching to the Mac need to know that back in the 1980s some PCs used MicroChannel Architectures (MCA) and Macs used NuBus. This minutae reminds me of the sketch on Airplane when the air traffic controller is asked how we got into this crisis, and he starts talking about dinosaurs creating oil and people buying expensive cars. Funny on a big screen, but not for a dummies book. That’s just an example of the massive overkill of useless information. Is the author prepping people for an appearance on a trivia show?

Too much information isn’t that bad so long as critical information is included and Reinhold simply failed to deliver on critical information. In particular I am comparing his book to the Missing Manual series of the same title and the Dummies version seems like a really poor rough draft of the Missing Manual. When people switch computers from either Mac to PC or PC to Mac they are most concerned about their data (including pictures and music), their emails and address book, and their favorites. Reinhold comes up with rather elaborate Rube Goldbergesque style ways of moving the information, but way beyond the skills (or budgets) of the average switcher. He also fails to cover how to convert email from PC to Mac, which is a top question for switchers.

Those topics Reinhold covers well are horribly disorganized and hard to follow with few, if any, illustrations or screen shots. You simply have to take his word for what he’s saying and use your imagination. I asked typical “How do I?” question on the Mac and none were covered. A new PC user might be calling Microsoft after reading this book asking for reconciliation.

Sorry for such a harsh review. I’m sure Reinhold knows his stuff and was simply trying to be helpful. Switching is a relatively new topic. Apple had to make a Newton before it could make the iPhone and I’m sure version 2.0 of this book will be much better. Skip this one though.

Pros: Interesting for trivia buffs, might increase Windows sales and Apple returns.
Cons: Disorganized, inconsistent coverage. Hard to read and follow.

Two DogCows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

Robin Williams seems to have a uncanny clairvoyance that not only helps her figure out that William Shakespeare’s works were possibly written by Mary Sidney, but also helped her get a Leopard guide in
the Apple stores the same day Leopard came out. Ok, she had some help from Apple by getting an advance copy. Maybe she used the Time Machine feature to go back to the days of Romeo and Juliet. It’s a pretty powerful feature of Leopard.

Obviously Apple trusted her enough to provide her with a pre-release copy of Leopard as well as make her the featured Leopard book in the store. In the Mac publishing world, she’s about as well known and well respected as ol’ Bill Shakespeare himself–and written almost as many works. Unlike Bill, reading her books are easy and straightforward arming non-technical users with the skills and understanding to attack Leopard head on.

In particular, Robin’s style is to expertly use page layout and screenshots to explain the features of an operating system in small bites everyone can digest. I enjoy the fact she doesn’t talk down to her readers. She expects a basic understanding of how to use a mouse and keyboard. This book is designed for a Mac or even a PC user making the transition to Leopard, either via upgrade or by the fact it came with the Mac. She walks the reader through all the features of the Leopard operating system. She apologizes for not covering the iLife or iWork suites, but clearly points out this is a book on Leopard. I’m sure she realizes that if the book were too big, readers would be intimidated. While it’s over 450 pages, she uses a great table of contents and index to allow the reader to hone in on just the info they are interested in. Want to know how to do screen sharing..no problem? First, she marks it in a “Tech Stuff” section so novice or intimidated users can avoid it. Then she puts it in a logical chapter of “Get connected and share files.” Then a nice screen sharing section appears. Can’t find it there? Check the index either under iChat or Screen Sharing. She clearly spent lots of time making sure her book was extremely user friendly, just like the operating systems she covers.

Not only does she cover practically all the “300″ new features of Leopard, but includes great troubleshooting advice for when things go wrong. The advice she gives is as good or better than what you’ll get on the phone calling tech support or stopping by the “bar“. If her troubleshooting section doesn’t cover it, you’ll need a technician to come out!

My one complaint is she should have marked those features new or different in Leopard. That would allow a upgrader to focus on just those new items of difference in Leopard. Knowing her though, she did a careful analysis and determined there wouldn’t be enough white space on the page and left it out.

This book is not intended for intermediate or advanced users. You won’t find out which port to open for screen sharing or it’s inner workings–just how to initiate it. I contrast her books to more “manual” like books that cover every feature in depth. This book is designed to hold the readers hand through the steps or learning.

I avoided Shakespeare in high school, relying solely on those ubiquitous yellow and black “notes.” Hey, her book is kinda the same thing. Avoids all the fluff and gets down to the nitty gritty of what you need to know. Will future generations attribute her expert writings to a man? I don’t know, but I’m sure glad our generation has such an expert artist of words and pictures to teach us how to use our Macs.

Pros: Outstanding layout and organization. Excellent descriptions for novice Mac users. Enthusiastically recommend it to all new Leopard and Mac Users. Use this book as a starting point in your learning!
Cons: Not for intermediate users, no clear distinction of Leopard features

Five of Five dogcows.

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

Review: Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Server Essentials

Peachpit’s “Apple Training Series” is generally an outstanding product line. However, there are two distinct branches to the line: knowledge and certification. This book isn’t designed as much to teach you about OS X Server (Tiger edition) as it is to prepare you for a certification exam. Nothing wrong with that, it just not terribly practical for real world operations. While I haven’t taken the certifcation exam, I suspect this book prepares you well for the exam since it’s the “offical” curriculum of the Apple Training and Cetification program.

Similiar to other test prep books, there are goals and reviews. In particular, the book breaks down the learning into chapters with time estimates, which is helpful in preparing your learning process. The included CD has sample files to go along with the detailed and expanded exercises. The book takes you through the basics of setting up a server start to finish along with giving an overview of the rich feature set found in OS X Server.

Unfortunately, simliar to other test prep books, the book doesn’t arm you with the skills necessary to properly maintain and configure a Tiger server in the real world. There is no troubleshooting guide nor much practical advice on do’s and don’ts of server setup. After reading this book, I’m relatively confident I could pass the exam, but I do not feel confident I could configure or maintain a Tiger server. Nonetheless, this book is a good first step in learning OS X server. You need no prior knowledge to start using this book and to at least get a test server set up.

Overall this is a good book for beginners and/or persons trying to get certified on OS X server. The book level from Peachpit says “Intermediate/Advanced”. I disagree; this is strictly for new users. If you will be maintaining a OS X server, look elsewhere for a support guide. Anyone who’s setup a OS X server will be annoyed by this book.

Pros: Clear examples and easy to follow guide for beginners
Cons: No troubleshooting nor practical guidance after initial setup

Two out of five dogcows

This article used with permission by the Lawrence Apple Users’ Group. The original article written by David Greenbaum aka DoctorDave or incorrectly Dr. Dave can be found here. RSS Feed for Dave’s writings

While I’m sure Andy has an iPhone, this excellent book was written when the iPhone was only an apple in Steve’s eye, Andy does a great job of helping the average user tweak some extra features from their iPod. Those suffering from iPhone envy will find some solace in Andy’s tips. This book is best for techheads who want to impress their friends, families and associates with all the incredibly cool things they can do with their iPod. iPods have evolved into mini PDAs that can do practically anything (it’s the inputing that’s the challenge!)

The first few chapters of the book were obvious tips that even beginner iPod’ers know and would annoy the intermediate to advanced audience the book is designed to reach. We all know we can copy songs from our CDs to our iPod. Yawn. Another distraction of the book is the annoying quips and too much personal info about Andy. Sorry, Andy, I’ll read your blog to find out your opinion about Battlestar Galactica or the Simpsons, but I don’t want it in a book about how to use an iPod. No offense, just not interested. Also, Andy played a bit fast and loose with disclosure on the risks of copyrights. It may be his opinion that some things should be legal, but in the murky legal environment today, more warnings of the risks of copying copyrighted materials should have been discussed.

Just like diamond surrounded by unimpressive coal, there are true gems in the book that I was able to immediately put to use. For example. Andy discussed programs for the Mac and PC that allow you to digitize to voice your emails and sync them with your iPod. I definitely downloaded some of his great tools and now I can laugh at those iPhone people because my iPod is almost as impressive. Almost. Also Andy does a great job of explaining how to use Automator in Tiger to get some really amazing features of your iPod working for you such as “listening” to a website. Take that iPhone! The most impressive iPod tricks Andy teaches is converting any text file to audio for listening, or simply easily breaking up the file for transport to the iPod. Many of the tricks don’t require software, but use some neat ideas Andy has for existing tools such as taking a screen shot of a subway map and then putting it on your iPod.

As stated earlier, I quickly got annoyed by Andy’s personal tips and societal opinions. Not tips on how to use your iPod, but tips on various SciFi TV shows. Again, Yawn. The tips interfered with the flow of the book because they were visual annoyance on the page. I expect those sidebars to give me exceptionally useful information. It’s Andy’s style as the “42nd most beloved industry personality” I’ll give him leeway because he is an industry veteran and promoted the “Macquarium,” just like I give my grandfather when he tells me story about the war (which one?)

Pros: Great tips to use your iPod to it’s absolute potential. Great cure for iPhone envy.
Cons: Andy’s style, which gets in the way of the information and artificially increases the length of the book.

Four out of Five Dogcows

Have you ever bought something that says “one size fits all” and it fits? Yeah, me too. Something that attempts to appear to everyone in reality appeals to no one. This book was designated by Peachpit as “beginner/intermediate” but I found most of it too difficult for me as a budding photographer and those things I did learn from the book probably would have frustrated an intermediate user. When I think “beginner”, I want to be walked through the very basics. Schloss started the book expecting that you had a small arsenal of photography equipment. This book isn’t for someone who has a $300 digital camera, but someone who has a much more advanced digital camera, light meters, multiple lenses and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t understand.

This book is geared towards someone who already has a photography kit and wants to learn tips and tricks on how to travel with their equipment. For example, Schloss mentions you should ship your clothes to your destination and then carry your camera equipment on the plane. Clothes can easily be replaced, camera equipment can’t. This advice is not for someone that is bringing the family digital camera on a trip to Grand Canyon.

My major concern with the book is that if someone owns several thousand dollars of camera equipment, they probably wouldn’t be considered a beginning user. Maybe it’s just me, but I would not spend $2000 in equipment and then pick up a beginner’s book. I’d first learn how to use professional equipment and then buy an advanced book.

In spite of my complaints about the book, I found parts of it helpful. There were a few pages about composing a photo using a “grid” which I had read in “iPhoto: The Missing Manual.” Other tips regarding photographing individuals or sports events required you to have a quiver of lenses to choose from to get the right shot.

A nice feature of the book is that it was visually stunning. Every few pages had amazing pictures taken from around the world. These photographers clearly are masters of their craft and a advanced digital photographer will probably be reminded of how to set an f-stop or how much light to let in for a particular photograph. We beginners just like looking at pretty pictures!

This is not a beginner book and intermediate users will only benefit if they have a set of professional or at least “prosumer” camera equipment and lenses. That person isn’t me, so I found the book of very little help.

Pros: Pretty pictures
Cons: The pretty pictures require several thousand dollars worth of equipment.

Some say lightening can never strike the same place twice. The Missing Manual series proves that wrong. David Pogue and the O�Reilly gang constantly hit the mark and spark creativity and knowledge in a variety of programs.

IPhoto 6 covers absolutely every aspect of digital photography on your Mac, leaving few stones unturned. In order to make sure you get the great photos you need and minimized the editing needed in iPhoto, Derrick Story and David Pogue make sure you buy the right digital camera for your needs and tells you the basics of lighting and composition. After reading that chapter, I looked at my own iPhoto library and understand why I liked certain shots and why others ended up on the digital darkroom floor.

After explaining how to buy a camera and create great photos, the authors take you through the steps of using iPhoto in logical order: importing, managing, outputting and of course backing up. More technical manuals need to do this. Instead of taking you through the features, they take you through the workflow.

The writing was typical of the series: clear, understandable with plenty of screen shots to explain the concepts. While I consider myself an expert on iPhoto, the book was full of subtle tips and tricks to shave hours off my digital photo management.

The strength of the book was definitely the extensive chapters on what to with your photos after they are in iPhoto. Photos are meant to be shared, not locked up in your hard drive. He went over not just the specifics of all the printing options such as photo books and calendars, but also using iMovie, iWeb, and iDVD to share the photos with the world.

The final chapters covered some more advanced options such as AppleScript and Automator. Unlike other Missing Manual books that simply point you to the website to download utilities, Pogue and Story explained some of these programs and how they can help you expand your iPhoto capabilities. The Appendix was definitely the icing on the cake handling practically every iPhoto error and it�s solution, as well as walking you through the basics of every iPhoto menu command and its implications.

My only complaint was somewhat weak coverage on desktop printing of photos. I always get confused about the way to feed the photo paper and how to configure settings to get the proper output. iPhoto, the printer�s software, the printer, and Mac OS X must all be in alignment to print properly. These days, I simply upload it to the drugstore website and print it there. Printing to services other than Apple�s wasn�t really covered either.

While iPhoto basics are simple and quick to learn, “iPhoto 6 the Missing Manual” helps you become the hands down master of digital photos on your Mac. Others will tremble in fear of your massive knowledge after reading this book cover to cover.

Pros: Covers every aspect of digital photography and makes everyone an iPhoto wiz.
Cons: Needed more coverage of desktop and third party printing of photos.

Five out of Five DogCows
5 out of 5 dog cows

First off, there was an extremely funny error that hopefully will be corrected later on. On page 11 in the book, under �Mouse and Keyboard Essentials� you find the opening statement of �This book gives you three kinds of instructions that require you to use the Mac�s Mouse.� Unfortunately, this was an early warning sign about the quality of the book (though �Windows Vista the Missing Manua�l has another funny Mac reference).

The most annoying problem with the book is the spacing of screen shots and their explanations. Most of the time, I found the screen shot a page before an explanation which made it extremely difficult to read the explanation and see what is being talked about because I had to flip pages back and forth. While it was a welcome breeze to have that page flipping, it was a waste of time and a example of poor editing.

In addition, while the Missing Manual clearly states which version of Vista has which features, this book gave no such indication as to whether the feature being explained would work in a particular version of Vista. While the book appears to assume you have Vista Premium, it mentions features that only the business versions include such as faxing. A novice user would be quite frustrated reading this book and wondering why they can�t find a feature. I can�t fathom why O�Reilly would include the version designations in the Missing Manual, but pull them from this version.

Another confusing aspect of the book were the �sidebar� type tips. While these tips were sometimes interesting, the placement often had no clear connection to the text being discussed. For example, while discussing the �Start Menu and Recent items� in Chapter 2 there is a �side bar� about the User Folder file structure. The side bars uses specifications and references explanations found in chapters 15-17. I think a novice user would quickly put the book down after being introduced to a concept that won�t be further explained for another 300 pages.

If one ignores the layout and flow of the book, the actual text of the book is helpful. The explanations that don�t reference screen shots are easy to understand and straightforward. Someone new to using Vista would have a firm grasp of the concepts and new features after reading the book (and figuring out on their own which version of Vista has those features). However, having read the Missing Manual version of the book, For Starters usually copies the explanation from the Missing Manual version.

O�Reilly really missed the mark in creating Windows Vista For Starters. My Business 101 class skills tell me they were trying to create a smaller and less expensive Windows Vista book to compete with the �Dummy� series. Unfortunately, they �dummied� the book to much and Windows Vista for Starters needs to repeat a grade or two before it deserves space on your bookshelf. Spend the extra $15 and get the Missing Manual version of the book.

Pros: Gives the reader a base level understanding of Vista

Cons: Extremely confusing for novice readers. Poor layout adds to the confusion. Could this be a subtle attempt to increase Mac sales by frustrating new Vista users?

2 out of five dog cows
5 out of 5 dog cows

The Book:
Final Cut Pro (FCP) is a complex swiss army knife of an edit program and can be very intimidating to a beginner. There seems to be way too many layers, windows and other sharp objects on which to cut yourself. But once you appreciate its potential, you will put imovie in your old cigar box of treasures and only bring it out to share with the grandkids.

This book guides you through the maze with agility and style. The author, Larry Jordan, is an Apple Certified Trainer who specializes in FCP and DVD Studio Pro. He is a veteran producer, director, and editor of corporate and network programs. He prides himself as a teacher and it shows in the more than 70 step-by-step Final Cut tutorials and fourteen quicktime movies. He has refined his teaching in his workshops and takes pride in presenting the information in a friendly, organized manner. Larry seems to be one of those tireless types. I�ll leave it at that. Just check out his site and see for yourself.

http://www.larryjordan.biz/

The book is part of a H.O.T. (Hands On Training) series presented by publisher lynda.com/books. The founder, Lynda Weinman, a web graphics and design veteran, wrote the very first industry book on web design, Designing Web Graphics, way back in 1995.

�The best tip in the book is that FCP gives you lots of different ways to accomplish the same task� just learn the ones that make you productive so you can forget about how the tool works and concentrate on telling your stories.�
Larry Jordan

The book�s chapters walk you through the entire process, from organizing and editing to outputting your project. The title page of each chapter shows a table of exercises and a summary of what you�ll learn. You follow along with each exercise with the FCP project files and media located on the companion DVD-ROM. Each chapter closes with a list of helpful keyboard shortcuts and a summary of what was covered.

Throughout the book are shaded boxes and pointers identifying features that are new to FCP 5, power tips, warnings, etc. The graphic design, layout, paper texture, etc., are all very pleasing and evoke the attention to detail found in every aspect of the book.

Also on the companion DVD are the fourteen movies of Larry talking us through various aspects FCP, including capturing media, filters and multi-clip editing. Each one is about fifteen minutes and all are helpful in grasping some of the more complex features of FCP. One of the movies I especially liked was Larry�s demonstration of slip/slide and ripple/roll edit features. His description helps differentiate the tools and describes when to use each.

Even though there are brief exercises on bringing files into Soundtrack Pro and LiveType, the 478 page book deals only with FCP not the other applications found in Final Cut Suite.

This book is for beginner and intermediate users of FCP. It provides a solid foundation and fills in a lot of holes if you�re self-taught. It is written as if you are attending one of Larry�s classes, very conversational and punctuated with his opinions and personal preferences. If you like his style, you�ll like the book.

I highly recommend Final Cut Pro 5 Hands-On Training to anyone wanting to learn Final Cut Pro.

PRO: Best book I�ve seen for beginning FCP training. A treasure.

CON: Who has time to go through it all, plus the movies. Just have to pace yourself.

Dog Cow rating: 5
5 out of 5 dog cows

By far, this is the most hands on and effective book on wireless networking I have read! The book was very logically organized by first training the reader on all the lingo such as the difference between an Airport Extreme and Airport Express and all the 802.11 alphabet soup. Once establishing that baseline with the reader, Miser then gives the reader all the potential options of how to setup a wireless Mac network and then explains each step with plenty of simple diagrams and pictures. Other books I read on this subject quickly lose the reader with complex and unnecessary options. For example, Miser doesn�t go into detail about �port mapping� which allows you to use create a web server �behind� an airport. If someone needs to set up a webserver, they probably don�t need help setting up a wireless network. This book covers the practical aspects of wireless networking the typical Mac user would face. If someone wanted complex, they�d probably be using a PC!

I was particularly impressed with his hints on how to have certain parts of your network secure, while realizing that it may not be worth the hassle of securing other parts. Heck the guy even asks you to email him if you have any questions about setting up your network (though to be fair, he didn�t say the advice would be free, but I suspect it is!). Having setup thousands of wireless networks for clients, I really think he�s covered everything an average user would face. His wireless network troubleshooting section should be licensed by every ISP! Too often, when a user calls tech support and tells them they have a Airport Base Station–tech support blows them off and tells them to get a Linksys or other brand they know. Miser covers it all in his troubleshooting section. In fact, after reading his section you can avoid calling tech support all together….just pick up his book.

To add the proverbial icing on the cake, Misner covers another technology that would fall under the terms of wireless: Bluetooth. Bluetooth almost always works, but every once in a blue moon (pardon the pun) things don�t always click. He covers almost every major bluetooth peripheral you�d connect to your Mac. He even covers how to sync your phone. Cell phone companies are notoriously bad about assisting customers syncing with Macs. They say to call Apple. Apple says to call the cell phone provider, and you�re left stuck having to manually put in phone numbers to your phone. Finally, you can get those pictures off your cell phone and into iPhoto with Miser�s help.

Realizing that people that use wireless technology probably travel, Miser includes a brief section on how to find wireless networks and how to safely connect to them over the road.

Overall, an outstanding book for any Mac user wanting to setup and enhance their wireless experience.

Pros: Covers every aspect of using Apple�s Airport products to set up a wireless network and most of his advice is applicable to 3rd party products

Cons: Would have like to seen coverage of Linksys and other popular wireless products

Link to book on Amazon

Five out of Five dog cows
5 out of 5 dog cows

Robin Williams is truly the queen of user instruction. She takes the hard concepts and makes them accessible to novices. She’s no relation to the actor Robin Williams of course, who has played a queen in the past!

�Podcasting and Blogging with GarageBand and iWeb� is a perfect guide for someone curious about blogging and podcasting. The book requires the reader to have a .Mac account and own iLife 06. Without these two essential components, the book is of almost no use. If you are able to type an email, then you’ll be able to blog and podcast after reading this short book.

Unlike a lot of technical books that explain a dizzying array of options, Robin makes the tasks easy and straightforward using the tools most every Mac comes with. This is not a reference guide that gives you tips and tricks. You’ll find nothing in this book about using Blogger or WordPress nor will there be advice on which type of mic to use for a podcast. She uses strictly iLife ’06 and .Mac. This is a step by step how to guide for someone who has never used a Mac or blogged before can be up and going within less than an hour.

Typical of Robin William’s books, she assumes no prior knowledge of anything but Macintosh basics such as moving the cursor and opening applications. Each step contains a screen shot of exactly what to expect with outstanding layout and flow. Some readers will complain that she doesn’t give the reader enough options as to how to create their podcast or blog. However, the goal of the book is to get the reader to create a blog or podcast as quickly and easily as possible. Once the reader feels they want more, then at that point they should buy an intermediate book. If someone has already created a podcast or blog before, then they probably don’t need this book.

Overall, a great book for people curious about trying to create their own podcast and/or blog using software that comes with most newer Macs

Pros: Extremely easy to understand, requires no prior knowledge
Cons: Tied to iLife ’06 and .Mac, offers few tips if you aren’t using those told

4 out of 5 dog cows

You know how there are some actors whom you can trust re part of a great movie. If they are in it, you know it�s good. Take Tom Hanks: practically anything he is involved in tends to be a great movie (expect of course for �Joe and the Volcano�). David Pogue and the Missing Manual series are the Tom Hanks of the technical publishing world. Even their mediocre stuff rises head and shoulders among the competition. �iPod & iTunes� is no exception to the long string of quality and informative manuals.

In particular, I was impressed with the flow of the book. Too often new iPod users feel they have to buy music from the iTunes Music Store to use their iPod and directly bypass their legal CD collection. Biersdorefer doesn�t introduce the iTunes music store until chapter 7. He logically starts with the iPod itself and the proper care and maintenance thereof, making sure new users can properly use and understand their iPod before they even hook it up to the computer. The book then moves from the iPod hardware to installing the software, adding songs, photos, and videos. After the user understand all that he then introduced the music store along with advanced concepts like using the iPod as an external hard drive. Finally, he introduces basic and advanced troubleshooting. Other books I�ve read on iPods organize their concepts based on themes such as hardware and software, rather than the actual flow of how a user might use their iPod. While you can easily pick up any chapter and learn something, beginner iPod users would be best serviced starting at, well, the beginning (how�s that for straightforward logic?).

Throughout the book, Biersdorefer uses extensive pictures and screen shots to illustrate the concepts described. I�m always impressed when an author does this, because not everyone likes to sit in front of a computer learning something. Good visuals help a reader learn a concept while not sitting at the computer. In addition, his explanations are clear and easily understandable without requiring knowledge of technical jargon.

Biersdorefer also included just about every iPod tip and trick I know such as all the idiosyncrasies of photo formats the iPod can display and how to put DVDs on iPods. I honestly can�t think of a single iPod concept the beginner or intermediate iPod user needs to know that isn�t covered in this book. While I consider myself an iPod expert, I still learned a thing or two and would recommend this to basic users as a book to read cover to cover to understand how to use an iPod. Intermediate users can use this manual as a reference for tools or procedures they don�t often do and don�t want to rely on the whim of internet searches. For example, I know I can use my iPod to do iPod presentations but I probably won�t remember how to do it until my new presentation. Biersdorefer covers the topic extensively so all I have to do is pick up his book. The only iPod concepts this book doesn�t cover is advanced tinkering such as installing Linux or how to boot your Mac off of it.

In general, this is a impressive book for the beginner that wants to know everything their iPod can do and a great reference manual for advanced users.

Pros: Covers it all in straightforward easy to understand language accessible to beginners without talking down to experts.

Cons: iPod not included. Waaah.

5 out of 5 dog cows

Since I have used OS X from day, I was very anxious to analyze this book and see how it compares to my actual experience. While I don�t agree with everything the author wrote, the advice is solid, well explained, and very reliable. Every Mac should ship with this book.

Unlike other books written for the IT crowd, this �Real World� book omits the boring details about why you should do certain tasks, and gives readers specific instructions on what to do daily, weekly, and yearly basis. You can open up the book and immediately start keeping your Mac in tip top shape.

There were certain aspects of the advice I, and many other Mac professionals, would disagree with. The advice isn�t incorrect, just not Universal (pun intended!). There is not one solution that fits all situations. Kissell acknowledges other opinions on these subjects. He actually quotes a variety of experts who disagree with his advice. In this industry, it�s pretty rare for a expert to admit there are other perfectly valid, and polar opposite, opinions. I really appreciated Kissell�s lack of ego. Again, this is �Real World� and in the real world two doctors can both be excellent and, yet have very different opinions.

For example, some experts believe repairing permissions is absolutely critical while Kissell indicates this procedure has no redeeming value. His panel of experts gave different opinions allowing the reader to dras their own conclusion. (Personally, I recommend repairing permissions before any Apple update and any time you have problems), This book is his opinion and suggestions on proper maintenance. Unless you have a logical and justified reason not to follow his outstanding advice, treat his advice as gospel and follow it to the letter.

In spite of the great maintenance advice Kissel gives, his advice on backups is second to none and should be required reading for anyone who has anything of value on their Mac. Why can�t Apple explain it this easy (oh, that�s right, they want you to upgrade to Leopard with built-in rudimentary backups)? He is going to save readers thousands of dollars in emergency data recovery costs. I suspect Kissel will be getting cookies baked for him, invitations to weddings, and wedding proposals himself. With Kissel�s help, data loss can be eliminated in our generation! Seriously though, Kisssel realizes that people won�t do everything he suggests, and he acknowledges that fact and creates good/better/best type scenarios for backups. People get intimidated by backups, and just ignore it�the same reason people don�t go to the dentist. In the last chapter of the book, Kissel take the most popular backup program out there, Retrospect, and takes you step by step through proper backup and restoration. Even the least technical among us can easily follow his advice and not wake up in the middle of the night in fear of data loss.

This book is one of the best organized I have seen. This is not a technical reference to be used only when you have a question, but a practical how-to guide with all the information you need at your fingertips. Not only does Kissel refer to shareware programs with eact download to download them in context of the chapters, but Appendix B summarizes all the programs mentioned in the book, the program features, and where to get them. Wow�why don�t more books do that. The last page of the book summarizes everything you need to do to maintain your Mac. Most Mac users should rip out that page and keep it near their computer�taunting them to actually do the things they learned in the book.

This book is probably going to win some major awards and should be given as a gift to any Mac user who cares about their data. Every small business should follow his advice to the letter. Too often, people think because Macs are so realiable, they won�t fail. While they tend to have less problems than Windows computers, Macs need Maintenance and Backups too!

Pros; Hands down the BEST book on backups and specifically Retrospect. Great maintenance advice given in a straightforward easy to follow manner.

Cons: This book will put lots of technicians out of business. He�ll also kill the entire data recovery business, as well as a good share of therapists who counsel people after data loss. Good for consumers, bad for professionals like myself J. Just kidding�.maybe.

Five out of Five Dogcows

I had really high hopes for this book. I consider myself a pretty smart Mac tech, but Unix was the one thing that really scared me about OS X. To fix some esoteric problem, I�d have to follow some Unix recipe and it always annoyed me I didn�t understand what I was typing. O�Relly books are well known not just for the animals on the cover, but excellent explanations of very technical concepts.

After reading Taylor�s book, I felt better, but not by much. Most readers can easily understand the basic Unix file structure commands, but towards the middle of the book he inaccurately assumed that his readers could also quickly understand some of the advanced concepts. Towards the end of the book I was left scratching my head. We went from move a file here and there to commands that were taking up multiple lines. Arrrgh!

The critical flaw in the book was a lack of exercises and real world examples. When I want to learn something, I don�t just want to be told. Involve me and test my knowledge. Some of the more difficult concepts covered in the book would have been enhanced with numerous real world examples, each building on the other. Things moved way too fast and made it easy to get lost.

The book was an excellent overview of Unix for the Macintosh and perfect for someone to decide whether to pursue further learning. �Introduction to Unix� instead of �Learning Unix� would have been a better title. After reading the book, I was reminded of speed dating where you meet 20 people for five minutes each and decide whether you want to go out with them or not. After reading the book I have enough familiarity with Unix that I can understand basic commands and how they relate to each other. I clearly want to go out on another date but any type of wedding bells are way in the distance.

PROS: Excellent overview of Unix for the Macintosh
CONS: Doesn�t leave you with enough practical understanding

3 out of 5 dog cows

Andrew Shalat deserves quite a bit of credit for tweaking lots of performance out of the basic applications that come with most Macs. Who would of thought you could do basic design in TextEdit? He earns the title of MacGyver of the Mac Design world. While I found his writing rather cheesy (he pretends the reader is stranded on a desert island and then starts a fruit import/export business), he teaches the reader how to make basic flyers, business cards, web pages, movies , soundtracks and DVDs. The target audience for this book is the Grandma or little league coach who wants to make some basic yet professional publicity materials for their organization.

This is not a tutorial about iLIie or iWork, this book is strictly project focused. MacDesign out of the box requires no previous knowledge of any of these programs. Statler walks you through the principles step by step with great screen pictures of any confusing steps. He also explains the design principles of what you are doing, so you can apply them to your individual projects. After reading the book, I feel much more comfortable using the basic Mac software to create a nice identity for any organization–however all my designer friends will still have a job for sure.

Pros: Excellent explanation on how to use the iLife and iWork suite to create flyers, business cards, web pages, and movies. Great book for someone delegated publicity duties for any organizations.
Cons: A bit cutesy. I�d prefer a straightforward explanation than an over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek approach. Not everyone has iWork preinstalled on their Mac

To purchase this book on Amazon and earn some money for the LAUG, click here

The title sounds pretty enticing�how to fire the phone company. The book is about Voice Over IP, or VoIP, which is a technology that allows voice chat over the Internet. Even though the book is copyright 2006, it really felt dated. That�s probably because this is such a fast moving field. No mention was made of some of the more innovative products out today such as the usb flash based phone from Vonage nor any info about Skype being bought by ebay. Unfortunately, the book also completely ignored Apple�s very high quality entry into VoIP�iChat AV.

The book�s subtitle is �A Handy Guide to Voice Over IP.� Not to nitpick, but I wouldn�t call it a guide, rather a overview. The book gave the reader a brief yet complex overview of the history of VoIP communications. The book took a simple straightforward subject and overwhelmed the reader with hundreds of acronyms (I actually started counting). Most of the acronyms, while interesting, are completely impractical as a guide. These acronyms have little usage for the average person wanting to dump the phone company. In addition, I think the book unnecessarily scared readers away from using VoIP. Too much time was spent on technical details such as home wiring or firewalls. In reality, this stuff generally works out of the box with little configuration from the user.

Based on the cover and title, I expected more of a guide on what options for VoIP were out there and which company would be right for me. Field did provide a chapter on how to compare VoIP companies, but left all the research to the reader. While I respect that if he included recommendations, they might change by presstime, but too often in the book instead of offering practical advice, he simply suggested that readers use Google to do their own research.

Personally, ever time I�ve used VoIP solutions, they work! I didn�t have to configure firewalls, check the wiring in my house, it worked like a charm. Same for any customer I�ve worked with. I almost wondered�does he work for the phone company�and is he being paid to scare readers. I don�t think he researched his subject very well, and he based all his recommendations on personal experience. Again, this stuff isn�t rocket science. I can confidentially say it�s harder to secure a wireless router than to chat with someone over the internet

Field did do a decent job of giving readers who want to switch to VoIP descriptions of realistic problems and how to handle them, most notably how to establish 911 access and how to switch your land line number to your VoIP number.

Buy this book if you need a historical overview of VoIP for your computer classes, but as a guide for someone wanting to switch to making phone calls over the Internet�avoid this book because it will needlessly scare you.

Pros: Great if you own stock in AT&T/SBC, as people will be afraid to fire the phone company
Cons: Endless fear mongering and complexity inaccurately portrays the ease in which you can fire the phone company

2 out of 5 DogCows

Link for more information on Amazon.com

by Leo Laporte, Todd Stauffer

Celebrity endorsements can be both good and bad. When it�s a grill, an endorsement by George Foreman tends to work out. When OJ Simpson endorses you�re car rental service it�s bad. Given the general high quality of Leo Laporte�s podcast and TV shows, I had high hopes for this book. I was woefully disappointed. Same thing happened when I bought sneakers endorsed by a basketball star and my game didn�t improve at all. The book was really writeen by Todd Stauffer based on the screen shots of his Mac. Apparently Leo didn�t have too much involvement, just like that famous basketball player probably had little to say about the shoes with his name on it.

First, the book was very difficult to read from a design perspective. Looking at a page it was nearly impossible to find what you want. Anyone ever heard of the tab function or indentation. These tips are from Design 101..use your margins and indentations to emphasise certain points and organize them on the page. In addition, the table of contents and flow of the book was very confusing. A good intro book takes it for the User�s Experience perspective: start with the beginning when you turn on the mac and setup up a user account, and then setup email, and so on. Leo�s book starts with the essoteric aspects of the Finder. If you are a new user, that�s not very helpful until you understand more about your Mac and if you are an intermediate user, you already know this stuff. Finally, the book didn�t include enough screen pictures, and the screen pictures that were included were not very helpful. I wish I could tell you what pattern was used to determine what was pictures worthy and what wasn�t. Including pictures in a book help break up long text areas and the pictures get associated somehow with the topic being discussed. In this book, the pictures were not used to help balance the text nor did the layout effective use the pictures to illustrate the text being dicussed.

From a technical perspective, the book did a mediocare job of explaining Mac topics. Typical of many technical books, the book explained topics in a way that novice users wouldn�t understand and intermediate users would be insulted by. Granted, it�s a thin line to walk: explain it straightforward enough that a novice will understand it but insightful enough that an intermediate user would appreciate and learn from it. At least Todd and Leo aren�t alone in their failures. A great example is multihoming. Multihoming is an advanced way of using mutliple network connections. A novice would unlikely care about it and a intermediate user wasn�t given an explanation of how to set up multihoming–only that it exists.

Worst of all, this book is just plain wrong in some area. In the troubleshooting chapter, Todd recommends running Norton Utilities when you have problems. What? Norton Utilities is not compatible with Tiger. That�s been known since Tiger came out. He also indicates that hardware problems with kernel panics are usually related to drivers and never considers that hardware may be bad or incompatible. Those are some serious errors. Granted it�s only a few errors, but errors bad enough that a computer could be rendered unusable after taking some of his advise.

Generally, this is a below average introduction to Mac OS X Tiger.

Pros: Not terribly expensive, a quick read
Cons: Hard to read and understand. Technical errors and inconsistent topic depth

2 out of 5 dogcows

Click here for more information on Amazon.com

Let me start by saying, �I�m a designer not a programmer�. This in-depth book is over 900 pages and slightly intimidating in it�s scope as well as it�s heft, But Dreamweaver 8 – The Missing Manual is not a book to read cover-to-cover. This book imparts a good deal of knowledge in the basics of web development and web technology, making it a useful reference for experienced Dreamweaver developers and complete beginners such as I.

Dreamweaver 8 is the latest version of the popular web design and development application used to create some of the world’s best websites. To give you a little background, I just finished the layouts for a project of creating my first website. I�ve owned Dreamweaver since version 2 (1998) and although they changed naming conventions (MX, 2004, etc.) I still never got the hang of creating even a simple website. Now, with the help of this book, I hope to finally get up to speed in the web game.

As far as web development software goes, it is the gold standard and has recently been bought by Adobe from Macromedia. Most graphic applications today do not come with a printed manual and usually get one in PDF format on the CD, but who would print out a 900 page book? This book fills that gap.

The author, David Sawyer McFarland, begins with the basics of how to navigate the software as well as the basics of web design and progresses to advanced features like database integration, CSS, XML, and XSLT. For the novice user like myself, it gradually steps them up to the ability to make full-featured high quality websites. For experienced users, the book is compartmentally designed to provide quick access to the information you are looking for. Because the book covers not only Dreamweaver functions, but web design basics and other background skills, it can easily be used as one-stop-shopping for anyone wanting to be proficient in web design.

The tips and notes provide useful information that isn’t readily available elsewhere and tutorials help readers develop and learn the skills as they read along. The author is particularly helpful in pointing out not only the lesser-known shortcuts and tips, but valuable extensions available to make the developer’s life easier. The writing is short and to-the-point and the book is well-written and easy to access, making it an indispensable desk reference for novice and experienced Dreamweaver developers alike. Now, if it would only finish my project for me.

4 out of 5 dogcows

Dreamweaver 8 – The Missing Manual Click to learn more at Amazon’s Web Site and earn the LAUG some money.

This is not a beginners book. If you are looking for a book that explains how to double click or what an icon is, look elsewhere. The primary audience for this book is someone who is familiar with the Mac and wants to learn all the tips, tricks, and idiosyncricies of Tiger. This is the type of book someone working in a computer lab or at a help desk would turn to when you need a quick answer to a question. Every IT department should have a copy of this book available.

One of the greatest aspects of the book is Toporek�s tables of keyboard shortcuts in every section. I generally like keeping my hands on the keyboard and every time I move to the mouse, time is wasted. If there is a way to do something, anything on the keyboard in Tiger, Toporek tells you. I found myself writing little post-it notes of shortcuts I never knew and now can�t live without.

The book is extremely comprehensive, not just covering the Finder, but also applications and utilities, Unix, networking, and troubleshooting.

If I had to pick one book to be stranded on a dessert island with (of course that island would need wireless internet and electricity) it would be this book. I can�t think of a real world question this book couldn�t answer. Many of the sections were in a �How do I � style like �Change password for User Account?� or �Share a USB Printer over an Ethernet Network.� Being a real world Tiger user, I can�t think of a single question this book doesn�t answer. I also found it handy when there were things I heard about in Tiger, but couldn�t remember where they were or how to use them. For example, I know there�s a program that will take pictures of the screen, but can�t remember where it is. I can�t search help if I don�t know what I�m looking for. A quick flip through the Applications and Utilities section in the book helped me find what I was looking for.

This is not a tutorial book. Toporek states the �how to� do something without actually walking you through it and doesn�t explain why he�s telling you to do something. I like to think of this as a recipe book for using Tiger. Follow the recipe exactly and you�ll be fine, but don�t expect to be told why you must preheat the oven or make sure to temper the eggs when making custard.

I highly recommend this book for a intermediate Mac user who would rather look something up in a book then search for the answers in Google or call their tech savvy friends. I went out and bought one personally for myself I liked it so much!

Pros: Efficient and straightforward guide on how to use Tiger efficiently and effectively.
Cons: Not for the intro user, if you are looking for a bunch of pretty pictures and hand-holding–go elsewhere.

5 out of 5 dogcows
5 out of 5 dog cows

Follow this link to purchase the book on Amazon:
Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide (Pocket References)

Publisher: Addison-Wesley
ISBN: 0321278542
Price: $64.99
Author web site: http://osxbook.com/

“MacOS X Internals” is the first book introduced since the advent of OS X that focuses on the low-level details of the MacOS in a way that will give technical people, ranging from geeky end-users to hardware-level programmers, a thorough and fascinating tour of the MacOS. This book is not for “average” end users; it is not an introduction to how to use a Mac. Nor is this book for people looking to get started programming on the Mac; there are plenty of books designed for new Mac developers. What “MacOS X Internals” tries to be is something unique: a guide to the MacOS from the bottom up, and it hits this mark very well.

“MacOS X Internals” can be roughly divided into three parts: a technical history of the MacOS, a review of the MacOS firmware and booting process, and a technical tour of various parts of the OS itself (such as interprocess communication and the file system, to pick two at random). The first section will appeal to any technically-included user of the MacOS, the latter two are aimed more at programmers, although there is plenty there to increase the knowledge of anyone with a strong technical bend, whether they have coded before or not. The MacOS history is a detailed trip down memory lane from the very first post-Next developer builds of MacOS X right up to Tiger and beyond. The features introduced in each OS are described in detail with emphasis on technical and “under the hood” changes. The author is clearly an enthusiast as well, as he frequently sprinkles entertaining bits of trivia in with the meat of the main narrative.

Moving on from the historical sections to the present, author Amit Singh gives a blow-by-blow description of the process of the Mac booting. If you have ever wondered exactly what the Mac is doing as the power flows and the grey apple logo appears, this is for you. Everything from the sequence of initial power-on tests, to the bootloaders and Open Firmware onto the higher level unix boot process are covered in detail. Of special note is the extensive coverage of Open Firmware, which is much more then a merely the “BIOS” of a PowerPC Mac. Singh describes many activities that a system programmer can do in Open Firmware, including making a draggable windowing environment and even programming the famous “Towers of Hanoi.” Unfortunately, this book was mostly finished before the Intel Macs arrived on the scene, and while there is a section on the EFI (extensible firmware interface) that is the “BIOS” of all Intel Macs, it is not nearly as deep as the Open Firmware section (updated information on EFI and other topics can be found on the author’s web site at http://osxbook.com/).

Roughly following the guide to the MacOS booting, Singh delves into the meat of OS X’s Unix underpinnings, describing how the MacOS really runs “under the hood.” This section covers all the expected topics, including the kernel, interprocess communication, and memory is very thorough fashion, with tons of code snippets all clearly explained. This will be especially useful for readers who are familiar with how other Unixes work behind the scenes, as Singh frequently and helpfully points of the areas where MacOS differs from other flavors of Unix. There is a great section on the various file systems that OS X supports, which is notable because other then a simple list, I have never seen this information in a book with such detail. The section of the primary OS X filesystem, HFS Plus, is very useful for both developers and power users alike.

“Mac OS X Internals” clocks in at 1641 pages in the end, and is over two inches thick. I was thoroughly impressed by this book. The author’s technical knowledge, as well as his enthusiasm and skill at presenting these topics is excellent. It’s hard to find anything negative to say about this book other then the the above-mentioned need to have more information on EFI (which isn’t the author’s fault, it was a matter of timing). I do wish the book came with an electronic version, as this would have made searching and copying the code snippets much easier. There is a coupon included for a time-limited trial of online access to the text, but I would prefer that a PDF be included on a CD with the book, even if this required an increase in the price (you can buy an electronic version on Amazon, but this is separate from the print version). These minor complaints aside, I cannot recommend “MacOS X Internals” enough. It is the finest technical book on MacOS X yet published, and puts Apple’s own technical documentation to shame in comparison. If you are a highly technical end user of developer, this book belongs on your shelf.

Summary: a technical tour-de-force and as thorough an overview of the MacOS as has ever made it into print with appeal to everyone from very technical end-users to system programmers

Plusses: Amazing wealth of technical detail, thorough coverage of all aspects of MacOS underpinnings, great sections on OS X history, boot process and file system, tons of programming examples
Minuses: A bit too much Open Firmware minutiae and not enough EFI minutiae, no searchable copy included

4 dog-cows

(this review has been updated from the original version…additional information on the author’s web site and availbility of the PDF version have been added based on reader comments on this blog)

Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition

I really had high hopes for this book. So many of my clients are switchers. They go from a PC to a Mac and don�t have a grasp of any of the basics. �Where�s my Outlook? Internet Explorer? Oh no!!�

Unfortunately this book is for intermediate PC users who are switching to the Mac, not novices. The book assumes knowledge of how to configure a PC and then builds on that knowledge for you to be able to do it on a Mac. The book tells you how to move your files from your PC to your new Mac, PC programs and their Mac equivalents, and how to configure your Mac. Not much time is really spent on how to “use” your Mac. To be fair, that�s what the title says �Switching to the Mac�, not “How to use a Mac, Switcher edition.”

The best chapter by far is the �Transferring email and contacts� I took copious amounts of notes because the chapter was so detailed. Anyone who wants to move their emails from their PC should buy this book. It covers using Outlook, Eudora, Netscape and more to their Mac equivalents, including OS X�s Mail.

In my experiences, people switch to a Mac because they found PCs too difficult to understand. Explaining things in PC terms kinda defeats the purpose of switching. For novices, look at one of the Intro to Tiger books.

If someone isn�t an intermediate PC user trying to swtich, but a novice…by this book for the person setting up your Mac so they can get all your information off your PC and make the transition to Mac as seemless as possible.

Pros: Expert advice on how to take your files, settings, and programs from a PC to a Mac
Con: If you wanted to learn all that stuff, you�d probably still be using the PC

Three out of five dog cows

First, the books is extremely well organized into eight basic chapters depending on what you have questions on. You can easily find a particular concept in either the Table of Contents or Index. The reader can jump to the item they have a question about or simply read the book from cover to cover. Breen covers both the Mac and Windows aspects of using an iPod and iTunes.

The writing was clear and straight-forward, and while Been did not talk over your head with technical jargon, he didn�t treat you like a �Dummy� either. Great useful tips are interlaced throughout the chapters with some things that are major time savers. He covers everything, not only music, but how to synchronize photos, contacts and appointments with your Mac or PC. Many books gloss over this highly useful aspect of using your iPod

The best chapter by far is the troubleshooting section at the end. When you have a problem with your iPod, Apple�s own documentation is very difficult to find and understand. He takes you step by step through what to do when your iPod stops working and all the possible fixes. That will save you a trip to the Apple store or waiting on hold with tech support.

I tried very hard to find something to counteract my overwhelming positive review, but I can�t. The book explains all aspects of using an iPod�no stone is unturned. The book is easy to read, easy to find the items you need. It�s even easy to carry around. It�s about an inch thick, 5 inches wide and 7 inches long making it easy to fit into a backpack, purse or briefcase. Heck, it�s only $10, and would be a bargain at twice the price.

Not only is this book great for a beginner, but even an experienced iPodder might have a question or two this book will cover for them. If you give someone an iPod, give them this book along with it!

Pros: Excellent reference on how to use an iPod and iTunes
Cons: He could put iPod support people out of business!

5 out of 5 dog cows

This book appears to be designed for novice iPod users trying to expand their knowledge, and it fails miserably.

I found the book disorganized; it reminded me of a bad PowerPoint presentation. A beginner’s book should have narratives walking people through the steps and use pictures to explain those steps in a logical order. Each concept only had one picture to describe the process, even if it was a multistep function. For example, on the section ‘Getting music in your iPod’ the picture to explain the concept was a iPod docked.

This book tries to be all things to all people. Kelby starts by telling you how how to connect your iPod and leaves you with a chapter on Podcasting. I doubt if a new user will move through the concepts this quickly. Every topic was given one page, some concepts need multipages and some only need a half. An entire page was devoted to the fact the iPod doesn’t have an off button.

Overall, this book did a poor job of explaining technical concepts to novice iPod users and was too simplistic for advanced users. The pictures didn’t explain the concepts and the prose didn’t explain things well either. Kelby also has a strange sense of humor that got in the way of his explanations and gave too many of his personal opinions rather than sticking to the facts. I didn’t need to learn about his musical tastes or his other projects… I just wanted to learn how to use of my iPod.

Pros: Visually appealing, will look nice in your collection and impress your neighbors.
Cons: Looks aren’t everything, style without substance.

1 out of 5 dog cows

I liked the fact that the book was a series of these short tips. I get interrupted easily, and the tips only take about a minute to read. I could easily start and stop the book without losing my place. I recommend reading it near the computer, because you really need to apply the tip if it�s useful to you, not just read about it.

Kelby walks you through all aspects of Tiger and a majority of iLife. However, this is not a book for novices or people that haven�t used Tiger for awhile. The reader should have a basic understanding of Tiger to understand how his tips will save you time. I wouldn�t quite call the tips �Killer�, but simply very useful. Maybe the author tried to call it very useful, and then marketing hyped it up to call it killer.�Killer tips�sounds better.

Personally, I knew a third of the tips because I use Tiger so much. Another third of the tips had no relevance to me, such tips related to sending and receiving faxes. However, the final third of tips were great and more than worth the price of the book. Often, it was just a simple item that might save a few minutes each day. For example, I never tried dragging the dashboard icon out of the dock. Never really thought about it, but my dock is pretty full, and since I can just press F12 to activate dashboard, it was wasted space on my Dock. Other tips I enjoyed were all the ideas about customizing the Finder or Spotlight searches. Sure I knew them, but didn�t really think about how moving things around would save me a few minutes each day.

Some of the tips were really cool, combining many of tiger�s hidden functions into practical �gee whiz� projects. An example of one of the more interesting tips was how, in a few short mouse clicks and an iSight camera, you can turn your Mac into a home surveillance webcam.

One of Tiger�s most powerful and underutilized features is Automator. While Automator is complex, I would have liked to have seen tips on some easy ways to write workflows.

Pros: Great, time saving and cool tips useful to anyone that works with Tiger. Highly recommend it for someone who uses Tiger on a regular basis, even people who think they are experts.
Cons: I wouldn�t quite call them �killer� tips, falls short on Automator.

5 out of 5 dog cows

I have to admit I own no less than eight different �Bible� books so being impartial may not be relistic in describing my opinions here.

The book starts off by explaining some of the basics associated with eBay; from registering as a user, to understanding the different types of auctions available. On the buying side of things, researching, tracking auctions and bidding strategies are also discussed. For those eBay users who wish to sell instead of buy items, making a particular item attractive to the bidding masses is no easy feat. The book covers everything from creating a seller account, weeding out the non-paying bidders and placing snapshots of the product, to accepting online payments.Thinking of becoming a full- time seller and creating a business through eBay? This topic is also represented, with various sections on how to save money by taking advantage of strategic buying and selling.

Though new to the world of eBay, it gave me the confidence to buy and sell products with the best of them.

• The authoritative reference-tutorial on eBay-the world�s leading online auction service-packed with power-user tips and tricks.
• Clear explanations and illustrated step-by-step instructions take readers through the entire eBay process-from the �eBaysics�of buying and selling to running an eBay business.
• Written by an expert eBay user and veteran author, the book covers all aspects of eBay.
• Discusses eBay troubleshooting and includes useful appendices that explore hardware and software needs, eBay lingo, and basic HTML markup terms.

This comprehensive guide covers what you need to know. Learn how to bid successfully, choose items to sell that buyers want to buy, conduct safe financial transactions, take advantage of feedback, find the true bargains when buying, and get a fair price for things you sell. You�ll even find an entire section to guide you through setting up and managing a practical, profitable business on eBay.

• Understand how eBay works, what it can and cannot sell, and how to take advantage of all its services.
• Find out what makes a good User ID, why you should set up multiple inboxes, and how to protect your privacy.

The following bullets are taken from the back cover:

• Navigate the site and explore different auction types.
• Find out what makes a good User ID, why you should set up multiple inboxes, and how to protect your privacy.
• Avoid fraud and learn how to deal with questionable sellers and complicated transactions.
• Choose the right items to sell, create sales listings that attract bids, and capture images that generate buyer interest.
• Learn to pack and ship items for safe,timely delivery.
• Discover how to accept credit card and other electronic payments.
• Develop a business strategy, set up a schedule, track expenses and income, and report taxes.
• Identify good sources for building your inventory.
• Create attractive,easy-to-read auction listings using eBay�s features and HTML.

Pros: Comprehensive yet easy to understand. Well organized.
Cons: General focus; if you need more depth this is not the book for you.

5 out of 5 dog cows

The book is divided into five parts. Each part has three or more chapters. Part I: Forget the Mall: Getting a Feeling for eBay

The first chapter gives you a really quick overview and history of eBay. There are several types of auctions on the site (traditional, reserve-price, restricted-access, private and Dutch), and a description of each is listed.

The last half of the first section offers step-by-step instructions for signing up on eBay, creating an eBay home page, and customizing various options on the site.

Part II: Are You Buying What They Are Selling?

This section discusses ways to get the most for your money. There is a true art to successful bidding, and the authors discuss that here. Also important is researching the history of the item(s) you want, to make sure you don�t overbid.

The 6th chapter holds your hand as you make your first bid. Also helpful,is the explanation and emphasis on members� feedback ratings. This is an excellent gauge that can be used to see if a member is trustworthy. Members with poor feedback are usually a high risk.

When the auction is over and you�re the winner, eBay For Dummies discusses the different payment options, including escrow services.

Part III:Are You Selling What They Are Buying?

Chapter eight jogs your brain for trash and treasure that can be found around your house. The next chapters give you step-by-step instructions on preparing and listing the item for sale on eBay.

The 11thchapter offers various troubleshooting tips. Want to maximize your profits? In chapter 12, the author recommends you add a photo of your item.There are instructions for selecting the right scanner or digital camera, achieving a clear image, and storing images on your computer.

Part IV: Oy Vay, More eBay!:Special Features.

The theme for the 13th chapter is protecting your privacy. eBay does collect information on its users. How secure it is on the site? eBay has a program called Safe Harbor. Safe Harbor protects the good users from the site abusers. There are instructions for reporting abuse to Safe Harbor. Other topics covered in this chapter are suspensions, insurance, mediation, appraising, ID verification, and fraud.

The 15thchapter discusses the eBay community. There is a whole other world of clubs and message boards out there. Also discussed in this section are the eBay charity auctions.

Part V:The Part of Tens

This section is a quick review. Where else can you shop in your jammies, never have to hunt for a parking space, and find someone eager to pay you for that ridiculous-looking lamp? Turn clutter into cash, find great deals,and shop safely.

• �Get in,get out�information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• Top ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun
• Participate in different types of auctions
• Develop bidding strategies that win
• Take digital photos that sell items

Pros: Easy to navigate and find just what you need to know. Nice worksheets.
Cons: Written for the novice computer user. Too simplistic… but then again it�s a Dummies book… and I ain�t no dummy.

3 out of 5 dog cows

This book is not the best book for beginners. The average person starting on eBay would have trouble finding the simple basics of buying and selling on eBay and could be intimidated by the overwhelming information. To her credit, Connors covers every aspect of eBay giving each area fair and equal attention. For example, I never understood how people can buy cars or real estate via eBay. She does a great job of explaining it. If I ever decide I want to sell my car or house on eBay, this will be a good reference to use.

Some other areas she covered that I find intriguing, though not applicable to me, includes how to make a living off of eBay and how to use the eBay forums to enhance your buying and selling experience. After reading the book, I feel like there isn�t an aspect of eBay I don�t have at least a passing familiarity with at this point. Connors covers the proper paperwork and even the details of hiring employees in your eBay business.

Like the average manual that once came with software programs, I�d recommend this book to someone how needs a reference guide to cover specific information. eBay, the Missing Manual, is an ideal supplemental book for someone who wants to move from the basics of buying and selling and make it into a hobby or a lifetime profession. If you�ve never bought and sold on eBay and simply want to get your feet wet, I�d suggest starting somewhere else.

Pros:Covers every aspect of eBay and the eBay experience.
Cons: Some aspects need more attention, and some need less.

5 out of 5 dog cows

In preparing for this month�s reviews, I looked at a lot of different books. I�ve always been fond of �No Starch Press� books because they are straightforward and to the point without all the fluff and needless information. There�s an eBay for Dummies and this book could be called �eBay for Smarties.� I don�t need my hand held on how to point and click (some people do and this is NOT the book for them). Tell me how to do something and I�ll figure it out, and avoid giving me a side bar about the history of double-clicking.

This book is a comprehensive guide to everything the average person would want to know about buying and selling on eBay. For example, it doesn�t include details on how to make a living on eBay nor does it go into great details on advanced topics such as power sellers or posting real estate. However,this book is an expert guide on how to quickly get up to speed on eBay. The author�s real world eBay experience comes greatly into play. He not only tells you the basics of buying and selling but really excels at the nuances of the experience. Of all the books I looked it, this one had the best section on how to write your search terms to hone in the item you are looking for. I�ve now got a sticky in the computer that covers all his tips. He tells you how to find stuff to buy and sell on eBay, how to make sure it sells, what to do when it doesn�t sell, and of course what do to when there are problems.

Dealing with eBay problems is a topic Banks covers well. In particular, Banks� realizes that the basics buying and selling on eBay is easy, it�s when problems develop that you need a book to help you through it. Approximately 25% of the book covers how to avoid the typical eBay problems, both from buyers and sellers. If I had purchased this book when I first started, I could have avoided many sleepless nights. I was confident in my ability to avoid buying into scams, but as a seller I�ve been scammed many times by buyers trying to hustle me.

While the book extensively covers buying and selling, it comes up short on the nuisances of Paypal. Paypal is the most popular method of paying on ebay and is in fact owned by eBay. Problems with Paypal however could take up a book in and of itself. Maybe Bank�s next book will be the Paypal survival guide.

Overall,the �eBay Survival Guide �is the perfect book for someone who wants the basics of how to buy and sell on eBay, without having to read a treatise on the subject. It would be the first book I�d recommend to the average eBay newbie.

Pros: Straightforward, direct advice on how to buy and sell on eBay. Assumes you don�t need lots of hand holding. The Anti-Dummies book.

Cons: Doesn�t cover Paypal very well.

5 out of 5 dog cows

Ok, I probably should say more than that. The book Podcast Solutions will probably be recorded by future podcasting generations (those in the first half of 2006) as the bible of podcasting.

Author Michael Geoghegan takes you through absolutely every detail of podcasting, with the assumption that the reader has only basic knowledge on the subject. The book�s sections are logically divided into key tasks in creating your own podcasts. The sections are short reads with quality summaries that put each particular task into the overall podcasting picture. Sometimes in technical books, the chapters are so dense and long, you forget exactly what you are reading about! Every aspect of podcasting is covered, from where to find podcasts all the way through publishing and at the end he includes ways of making money via sponsors and affiliate programs.

In most sections,Geoghegan gives you good/better/best suggestions on software and hardware. That approach is very handy, because he gives you a shopping list to start off with, and then gives you the shopping list you need when you out-grow the equipment. When showing examples of a particular concept, the author varies the software and hardware combos he uses and provides ample screen shots to illustrate what he is talking about.

My only major complaint is that Geoghegan does get extremely technical in certain places on how to get the absolute best podcast. It went over my head pretty quickly in some sections, because I didn�t have the advanced software and hardware he was talking about. However, I think you can safely ignore some of his suggestions to start off with and then as you become more serious and spend the money for the professional equipment, you�ll want to know all about �RMS normalization� and �De-esser.�

Best of all, the book includes a CD that contains almost all the software mentioned in the book. Sure you can download the programs from the Internet, but books with a cd (a throwback to an earlier day) when books came with software and software came with manuals is a very nice touch.

Overall, an outstanding book on how to create and distribute a quality, professional podcast.

Pros: Covers every step of podcasting, assuming nothing, and leaves
you absolutely confident you can do this yourself. It comes with a CD too,
a rare find.

Cons: Gets a bit too technical in certain areas, but you can safely skip those parts until you become a serious podcaster.

5 out of 5 dog cows

In his efforts to be thorough, I found Farkas wasted valuable space talking about information that wasn�t very helpful and was probably out of date by the time the book was printed. Reminding me of the sketch in the movie Airplane! where the guy talks about the earth cooling, dinosaurs, and Mercedes Benz, Farkas actually discusses the invention of the home computer and Internet! An example of this information overload is the fact he spent 30 pages talking about every podcast agregrating software out there for Windows, Windows Mobile, Linux, and Mac. That�s a bit over the top. I would have rather he named three or four ones he liked than giving me a dizzying array of options, especially since most people are probably going to use iTunes. The same over-attention to detail was his anaylsis of mobile MP3 players. He listed every popular one on the market and gave a description. Hardly a secret, especially since they were old versions and models! With iPods having 70% of the market share, why go on from there? It�s podcasting, not MP3 casting.

Ironically, the chapter on creating podcasts is significantly shorter than the introduction of podcasting. Farkas doesn�t even get to creating a podcast until you are halfway through the book. Again, we are faced with too many choices in software and hardware. When he finally gets to the instructions of creating the podcast, he uses both a Mac program and a Windows program and gives great step by step guidelines. Here, his thoroughness really pays off, but creating a podcast is only half the equation.

In the last section, Farkas drops the ball and doesn�t explain enough about how to distribute your podcast via RSS feeds. This is the shortest section of the book. There is no step by step guide. Not even the dizzying array of software like in the other sections of the book. Maybe he ran out of time, but why run the ball down the field, and then fail to make the goal?

This book is a good overview of the podcasting universe and perfect for someone who might ask, �What is a podcast�, but if you know what a podcast is and understand the basics of recording audio content, look elsewhere for a book on the details (see my review of Podcast Solutionsfor a book that picks up where Secrets of Podcastingleaves off). Hardly a book about secrets, more appropriately it should have been titled Podcasting for Beginners.

Pros: Great overview of podcast options and ideas to create your own podcasts.
Cons: Skimps on details of how or what to do after you create your own podcasts. Bores you with lots of details on software and hardware options that are out of date by the time the book was published.

3 out of 5 dog cows

This was one of the first books to come out for Tiger and primarily designed new Mac/OS X users. It is a good reference guide that you need not read in any particular order. The author presents all the aspects of Tiger that would interest the average starting user. No previous knowledge of Mac is assumed, which can get annoying for users familiar with OS X already. Visual Quickstart books are designed with great screen shots showing you want you�d see on the computer screen (visual) and tells you what you need in order to get up and running with the program (Quickstart).

Intermediate users can skip the introductory sections and focus on areas they aren�t familiar with such as Widgets or Spotlight, but only the most basic aspects of these concepts are introduced. Switchers will find this book exceptionally helpful because of the straightforward way the Mac OS is introduced and the fact no previous knowledge is assumed.

Pros: Perfect for new Mac users and Switchers.
Cons: Doesn�t tell you much about the new Tiger features or go into any great detail.

3 out of 5 dog cows

Recently, she�s been writing more technical books, but with the style that is Robin�s hallmark:great explanations that are personalized in such a way with real world examples that you end up viewing her more as a friend than a Mac expert. The book is visually stunning.

This book should be read from cover to cover to really help you understand Tiger. Each chapter connects with other chapters, strongly focusing on the interconnection between Tiger functions that can make you more productive.

This book assumes basic knowledge of OS X and focuses more on the tips and tricks that work in Tiger. For example,I never knew there was a �Web Receipts� folder that you can create when you choose to print to PDF.

Pros: Very well written and laid out. Focuses on Tiger�s integration among the included applications and iLife.

Cons: Focuses on introducing functions, without going into great details. Difficult to look up how to do a specific task.

4 out of 5 dog cows